This is one of Pierre’s favorite dessert and I must say I like it too. Rhubarb is not something I grew up with, I didn’t encounter it until my first trip to England. I was a fille au pair at the mansion of Lord & Lady Bolton in Yorkshire. I was in charge of two things; first: was to take the lady’s horse out for a walk in the morning; and two: was to help cook supper. One of the recurring dessert was rhubarb and custard. I don’t remember exactly how we did it then, but this is how I make it now. I like the “enhanced” custard a lot! It is rich, creamy, but not too sweet.
How to make it:
Cook the rhubarb with maple syrup until very soft.
Custard w/ whipped cream:
Boil 2 cups whole milk and reserve.
1/3 cup of sugar
2 egg yolks
Whisk together until foamy.
In another bowl
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup flour
Mix with the egg yolk texture.
Add the milk, mix thoroughly and return to low heat. Cook the mixture, it will thickens quickly, but keep it under a low flame and mix constantly so the ingredients will bind well because uncooked flour is not digestible! Reserve to cool. Keep it covered to prevent a skin to form on top.
You can chill both the rhubarb and the custard until you are ready to serve dessert. When ready to serve whip the heavy cream, add a dash of vanilla extract. Then fold gently cream & custard together. The ratio is equal amount of whipped cream and custard. Garnish with a fruit, strawberry will be best but I had only a peach and I think it looks interesting too. Voilà for now! I am a busy busy preparing for Friday June 19th performance & dinner at 5c Café. I will post about that tomorrow, but save the date for next week end.
Many thanks for the recipe!! Will try it out (seeing that we have rhubarb in our garden, and that I’m a big fan of custard & rhubarb as well).
P.S.: funky plate! 😉
Prepared & savoured yesterday: what a delight, indeed!
Btb, lead to my proper Proustian “madeleine” experience: suddenly I was thrown back, and reminded of our own, regional preparation: we have the habit of serving the rhubarb not with custard, but with white rice pudding (so not the other typical one with cinnamon & saffron, served with “cassonade”). It used to be a favourite of mine at my grandparents’.
Thanks for the marvellous recipe (& the great blog).
You better be prepared to make it that rice pudding for me Peter! Thanks for being un reader assidu!
My pleasure entirely, to be an assiduous reader!
And: I’ll do my utmost best, although I doubt being able to match the skills of my late grandfather and my mother, who both master the recipe to a frightening degree (incidentally, the “yellow” rice pudding’s my father’s absolute “péché mignon”)!
To be tasted…