Ingredients
- 2 cups of rhubarb (freshly washed and chopped)
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) or granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 cups of heavy cream
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) of confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar worked for me)
- 8 ounces (230 grams) or vanilla wafer cookies
- Either red sugar frosting bits or some other sprinkles for decorating.
Equipment
- Something close to an 8″x8″x2″ baking dish
- Large bowl for mixing
- Medium sized pot (for rhubarb)
- Wooden spoon
- Rubber spatula
- Hand mixer with whisk attachment
Recipe
- When do you want this? Just a heads up, this needs to chill overnight so plan ahead.
- Put rhubarb and granulated sugar into the pot on medium to medium-high heat. Stir it up every few minutes. Continue this until it looks more like a jam you would buy at the store.
- Turn off heat and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Allow this to cool to room temperature.
- Add heavy cream to the large bowl and use hand mixer on medium to medium-high speed to whish until it thickens (2-3 minutes). Once it’s looking like room temperature Cool Whip, add the confectioners’ sugar (aka powdered sugar) and the 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Whisk until you get stiff peaks.
- Basically, mix until once you turn off the hand mixer and flip the mixer up, you’ll get something that looks like a fresh soft-serve ice cream.
- Grab a rubber spatula and use it to fold in the room temperature rhubarb jam stuff you made.
- Folding just means putting the jam stuff into the cream and instead of mixing vigorously, you do a scrape a scoop motion in which you make a wave of mixture that then falls on top of itself. Be gentle and thorough and you’ll get there.
- Use the back of a spoon or the rubber spatula to spread a thin layer of the cream on the bottom of the pan.
- Put down a layer of vanilla wafers (make a solid layer so feel free to break some to fill any nooks or crannies.
- Spread a thicker layer of the rhubarb cream across the vanilla wafers.
- Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you have filled the pan. End with the layer of rhubarb cream.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight.
- When ready to serve, add sprinkles to the top.
Notes
This recipe came from one of the few baking/dessert books I own. I got it as a gift from my now wife who is one of my biggest cooking fans (she has to be since it takes the cooking chore off her plate; but she can definitely do some baking).
I wanted to bring up this recipe because of the use of rhubarb. This is a seasonal ingredient. If you want fresh, then this means you can only make it from around mid- to late- spring. However, you can likely find frozen and surprise, frozen fruits and veggies are just as good as fresh; you just have to thaw them out. Yet, to make something in its season often reflects the best time in which to have it.
Lastly, this recipe originally called for “red sanding sugar.” I hate looking lost and confused, which I did as I scoured the baking aisle for this stuff. I gave up and just bought sprinkles. While baking is referred to as a science due to the need of precise measurements, there are moments in which you can add your own twist. Here, I switched up the decor.