Everything is coming up Rhubarb!! Family favourite recipes from Nova Scotia and “From away”

This year’s rhubarb harvest has been simply awesome!  The colder, wetter weather has really helped prolong the productivity of our little patch that was transplanted from Papa’s garden in Cape Breton and Grandma’s garden in Antigonish County. The kitchen smells like fresh rhubarb cake, crisp and pie almost every other day!  The only problem is that it all disappears so quickly I can barely get pictures of the yummy-ness to share! Since it looks like we may get to enjoy rhubarb delights for a few more weeks, it only seems right to share some of our family’s favourite recipes (maybe someone will post one of theirs in the comments for us to try too!!)

2-Grandma’s Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie

East Coasters are not the only ones who love Rhubarb – my husband is “from away” and his favourite spring dessert growing up was Rhubarb Sour Cream Pie – it was years before 2-Grandma would share it with me!

4 Cups fresh chopped rhubarb

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 cup sour cream

Combine and pour into your favourite pie shell, then top with:

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp cinnamon

Bake on the lowest shelf of the oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes until cooked through and brown on top!

Rhubarb Coffee Cake

This is my all time favourite cake – I eat it for breakfast every chance I get (if I eat it before 8am I am sure to burn it all off throughout the day, right?!)

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1 egg

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups fresh chopped rhubarb

Cream the sugar, butter and egg together.  Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream to creamed mixture. Fold in rhubarb.   Place in a greased 9×13 pan and top with:

1/4 cup each white and brown sugar

1-2 tsp cinnamon

Bake in pre-heated 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes, don’t share – they won’t like it…as you can tell from the photo below.

Apple Rhubarb Caramel Crisp

This recipe has no special origins or source – it just simply happened one day when we were playing in the kitchen trying to find the world’s most amazing Crisp recipe EVER!!  This is definitely a keeper!

4 cups-ish peeled and sliced apples (we used Macs because we had them from our CSA box)

3-4 cups fresh chopped rhubarb

Place together in a 9×13 pan, mix them up well, then pour over:

1/2 cup melted butter mixed with 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon

Top with combined:

1/2 – 3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup melted butter (this keeps it crispy!!)

2 shakes of cinnamon, 1 shake of nutmeg

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until it is bubbly and brown on top.  Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream sweetened with 3 tbsp of real maple syrup.

Mmmmmm, just writing this made me hungry – I am off to bake again!!  Would it be mean to send the girls out in the rain to pick more rhubarb?!

“Diet tip: Your pants will never get tight if you don’t wear any!” ~ Unknown