Sunday, May 1, 2016

Last of Last Year's Rhubarb


Score! I thought I had used up all the rhubarb I had diced and frozen from last summer making DD#2's birthday cake request, Strawberry Dump cake, which I blogged about here. Moving things about, even after the inventory of my freezer, I discovered about two cups worth of rhubarb in two different freezer bags. This won't be enough for the cake or a batch of jam, so am having a good think over what to do with it. I remember once being in a diner and that had an assortment of syrups on the tables to go with pancakes and waffles. One was a rhubarb syrup, and I recall it being quite tasty. Surely there has to be a simple syrup recipe out there. Score again. At The Kitchen, waiting for me to find was a simple syrup recipe

As I only have half the rhubarb, I will half the recipe and end up with about a cup of cooked syrup. Before I can make it,I need to get a fine mesh strainer. Part of what I like about jams as opposed to jelly's is not needing to take the chunky bits out. When I make current jelly, I have a mill I use to squeeze all the juice out after I cook down the berries. I have so little rhubarb, and with the fibrous nature of it, I think it would end up getting stuck in the blades and mesh and not squeeze out properly. I have to make a stop at the Dollar Tree for a birthday card after church and will check there first to see what they might have before stopping in at Target or Walmart. I'm excited to try this, and if it works, I have plans first to try it out as an addition to lemonade, plain first, but won't ever rule out turning into a "fancy" cocktail. I'll give you an update once I track down the strainer. 

I held onto a vintage looking bottle-perfect to serve some homemade rhubarb lemonade.

 
I'm back after that intermission. The syrup was as easy to make as it sounded form the link. I didn't even have two full cups, but had some frozen strawberry's so I ended up with a strawberry rhubarb syrup, hence the darker color. I reused an 8 oz. salad dressing bottle, so you can see I didn't even get it half filled. I think it is thicker than the website shows-not sure if I used more sugar and that caused the thicker end result, perhaps? I didn't measure exact levels. I tasted just with my finger and got a hint of rhubarb, but I think the strawberry might come out more. I didn't have lemonade ingredients nor any bubbly water so tried it out just in some tap water. It had a nice little hint of flavor-sort of the hint you get when cucumbers are sliced in a pitcher of water-subtle. 

The syrup would make a nice addition to a homemade food gift basket. I could see a couple jars of jam, a bottle of syrup, some short bread cookies, a bottle of club soda, and maybe a loaf of homemade bread for a house warming, or to treat new parents. Dilemma though, as I do not pressure cooker can jams and jelly's, I am not sure there is enough acid in this to safely can that way. Because it was so easy, and can be done in small batches without much fuss, it could be just given for refrigerator storage I suppose. that's another days decision. This batch is mine. 
 


5 comments:

  1. Oh god I have no time to do all this wonderful stuff. I'm making raw chocs rabbit stew and lemon cheesecake too many recipes not enough time lol

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  2. This was a quick and easy one, with the exception of having to strain the chunks.It sort of reminded me of the makeshift syrup my dad would make for pancakes if we ran out by just cooking down some brown sugar with water and adding a little vanilla. Cheese cake! That is ambitious.

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    1. Nigel Slater's lemon cheesecake easy, works beautifully and delicious.

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  3. Thank you so much for posting this! I have small bags of several fruits that are not big enough for a pie or cake but would make wonderful small bits of syrup. I had never thought of using it that way before. Son3 is coming home from school and bringing 2 friends with him. I think I will use the fruit to make syrup for pancakes. (Especially since I know Son3 makes killer pancakes and he wants to do most of the cooking for them)

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    Replies
    1. I'd start with less water so thick enough for pancakes rather than beverage mix. You can always add more, teaspoon at a time if you want thinner. I love pancakes with fruit syrups.

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