Tangy, magenta hued rhubarb is simply roasted with maple sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest for a springtime delight. Served at room temperature with a rich yogurt accompaniment Roasted Rhubarb with Maple, Lemon, Vanilla, and Yogurt is a fragrant and creamy seasonal treat perfect for dessert or brunch.
Rhubarb is a favourite of mine during the spring season, and I truly appreciate its incredible ability to transform from the crunchy, lemony sourness of its raw vegetable form into melting, fruity tenderness when cooked. While rhubarb is so often eaten in familiar preparations that use intense sweetness to amplify and sometimes overpower its tangy charms, rhubarb can still surprise an eater with the subtlety of its juicy, fresh, fruity, and floral notes when prepared in other ways.
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Instructions
In this simple 4 ingredient dish, maple syrup, vanilla, and lemon zest are added to the rhubarb so that as it roasts in the oven, a fragrant syrup is created. Maple sugar adds nuanced natural sweetness, lemon adds a bright, aromatic herbaceousness, and vanilla, in the astute words of food writer Niki Segnit, is rhubarb’s best friend, allowing the heavenly contrast of “[...] luxurious, floral creaminess with rhubarb’s mouthwatering sour-fruity flavour[...].” I couldn’t agree more. Once the rhubarb is cooked through, its colour magnificently intensified, it is left to cool and allow the syrup to thicken.
The aromatic rhubarb is then served at room temperature with rich yogurt, drizzled with its own sweet and zesty syrup, and garnished with delicate toasted flaked almonds and a few last granules of maple sugar for a light textural crunch. A visual delight, sweet enough without being cloying while still highlighting the tang of both rhubarb and yogurt, this rhubarb-centric dish celebrates all that there is to love about this familiar yet complex ingredient.
The Food Finds
Sweet and tasting purely of maple syrup, Maple Sugar is a natural granulated sugar with a light roasted flavour featuring woody and vanilla flavour notes. Produced when liquid maple syrup is reduced through evaporation, maple sugar is shelf stable, can be stored at room temperature indefinitely, and can also be reconstituted into a liquid form. Find out more about maple sugar, where to find it, and ways to use it.
The yogurt I used for this recipe is the newly discovered (to me) Baked Milk Yogurt, a rich caramelized yogurt made in the slavic tradition. Find out more about Baked Milk Yogurt, where to find it, and ways to use it.
Substitutions
If maple sugar is not available where you live, simply substitute a slighter larger amount of regular liquid maple syrup. If maple syrup is not available, use organic cane sugar in the same quantity as listed for the maple sugar.
If baked milk yogurt isn’t available near you, it can easily be substituted for a higher fat greek yogurt, preferably around 7-10% milk fat content, which will give you the thicker, richer, creamier and moderately tangy complement needed to pair with this dish. You can also use a rich, vegan yogurt of your preference to make the entire dish completely plant based.
Interested in growing your own rhubarb?
If you happen to have a garden and aren’t already growing rhubarb, it is an easy and productive addition to any of your own adventures in growing things. Rhubarb needs only a sunny, undisturbed spot and very little tending, and it provides the grower with far more than it requires in return. Read more about how to grow rhubarb.
Freezing rhubarb for later in the year
If you happen to love rhubarb and find that it is not regularly available throughout the year where you live, take advantage of the season, cut a few bunches of stalks into 2” lengths, and freeze in silicone pouches, ready to be turned into a springlike delight later on in the year.
Want to discover more about using rhubarb?
Roasted Rhubarb with Maple, Lemon, Vanilla, and Yogurt
Ingredients
- 350 grams rhubarb stalks about 1lb before the leaves are removed
- 60 grams granulated maple sugar substitute with organic cane sugar, or with 70 ml liquid maple syrup
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or substitute pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup rich higher fat plant based or dairy yogurt such as baked milk yogurt, or higher fat greek style yogurt
- 4 tablespoon flaked almonds toasted (optional)
- Extra maple sugar or maple syrup for garnish (optional)
- Mint leaves for garnish (optional)
- A few strands of lemon zest for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Set the oven to 400°F and line a baking dish with parchment paper. The baking dish should be just big enough to fit the cut rhubarb pieces in a single layer.
- Wash and dry the rhubarb stalks and discard any leaves, which it should be noted are toxic to humans and animals if consumed. Cut the stalks on the diagonal into 2” sections and place into the lined baking dish, making sure the dish fits the rhubarb snugly. Sprinkle the maple sugar on top of the rhubarb, add the lemon zest and vanilla paste, give everything a good toss and then smooth into one layer. Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes until a liquid syrup has formed. Note that as rhubarb stalks vary widely from the delicate to the hefty, your cooking time may take a little less or a little more than noted depending on the girth of your stalks.
- Remove the foil cover and bake for a final 5 minutes, checking that your rhubarb is tender but not disintegrating (although it will still be just as tasty if you have left it too long). Leave on the counter to cool to room temperature.
- While the rhubarb is cooling, toast your almond flakes in a pan on medium heat until lightly browned and also let cool.
- While I prefer serving this with unsweetened yogurt, if the yogurt you are using is very tangy, or you prefer a sweetened yogurt, add additional maple syrup to sweeten your yogurt before serving.
- When ready to serve, place a modest dollop of rich yogurt, about ¼ cup, onto each dish, gently spoon a quarter of the baked rhubarb onto each serving, and drizzle each serving with the syrup from the baking dish. Sprinkle with the toasted almonds, a few sprinkles of maple sugar or splash of maple syrup if desired, and optionally garnish with fresh mint and a few strands of lemon zest if the spirit moves you. Enjoy!
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