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Rhubarb Dream Bars




I made this Rhubarb Dream bar for our company one evening. Took it out of the oven and put it on the back burner to cool. As I was finishing up the meal I turned on the wrong element and kabang.....little shards of glass everywhere that I was sadly not able to serve it. Doesn't it look good? I wanted to show this to you to let you know that even after over 30 years of experience in the kitchen, I have my share of catastrophes. I am going to share the recipe with you anyway because I know for a fact, this tastes really good. You can make it with the optional crumb topping like in this picture of leave it off and enjoy the creamy rhubarb custard on a shortbread crust.  Bev has a similar recipe with meringue on top which is very delicious as well.

Crust:
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2/3 cups icing sugar
  • 1 cup butter
Filling:
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 4 cups rhubarb, chopped
  • 2 cups sugar (less is fine too)
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream* optional
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  1. Mix the flour and sugar in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter to make coarse crumbs with a pastry blender or with you hands. Press into a 9x13 in baking pan. 
  2. Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes.
  3. Combine eggs, sugar, cream,  flour, salt and mix well until there are no lumps. Fold in rhubarb.
  4. Pour into baked crust (add the optional crumb topping if you choose to use it) and bake @ 350 for 45-55 minutes or until filling is set ad edges start to brown a bit.
Crumb Topping (optional)
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1-2 tablespoons cream (not whipped)
  1. Combine the flour, cream,  sugar and butter.
  2. With a pastry cutter or with your hands form coarse crumbs and sprinkle evenly over top of the Rhubarb.
  3. Bake as suggested in above directions.
*The original recipe did not have cream in it and can be made without and is still good. I added the cream after this recipe was originally posted and I like the results of that too as I was experimenting to make the recipe for Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars.



34 comments:

  1. I must bookmark this recipe!! With all the rain we've been having, my rhubarb patch has stayed fresh and useable longer than ever before!

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  2. I did that with a nice juicy lasagna not so long ago what a mess.

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    1. Too big of a hurry again, forgot to say the bar does look yummy

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  3. In the oven, waiting with anticipation. Thank you for your timely recipes!

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  4. I have been making the Meringue version of this recipe for years and it's fabulous.

    PS I love your recipes and they always turn out great. Thanks for this gift of Mennonite Girls Can Cook.
    JB

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  5. That looks very good i would like to make it but we don't like rhubarb, is there any other fruit that could be substituted in its place?

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    1. Yes absolutely. Someone suggested Mango or Pineapple. That sounds pretty fantastic. I have not made it with anything else, but if you do, please let us know how it turns out.

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  6. What is the cream? Whipping cream? Not whipped just in the liquid state.
    thank you and cant wait to try your recipe.
    Im always on the lookout for rhubarb recipes.

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    1. The cream I used was unwhipped whipping cream. It makes wonderful big crumbs and hold together better. At least that is my experience.

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  7. Where I live I would pay money for rhubarb but none available here!!! I'm thinking maybe mango or pineapple dream bars???

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  8. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY CREAM ???

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    1. The cream I used was unwhipped whipping cream. It makes wonderful big crumbs and hold together better. At least that is my experience.

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  9. The cream is probably in its liquid state not whipped. I'm also assuming it is either table cream or whipping cream.

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  10. Hi Ladies, yes the cream is meant to be not whipped. I find sometimes I need to make the crumbs stick together better and make large.

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  11. yum....these look sooo good. My mom used to make rhubarb pies bit I've never made one. I hope to try your recipe for these bars...

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  12. Can you make this with frozen rhubarb?

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    1. I mentioned in my post that this is very similar to Bev Rhubarb Meringue Dessert and she says that you can use frozen rhubarb. I personally have never done it. Try it and let us know how it turns out.

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  13. I have rhubarb ready for this recipe. Thanks for sharing. Looks yummy!

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  14. Looks delicious! Ha... I did that while I was living at home with one of my mom's glass pans. We needed a whole new kitchen after it exploded. The glass exploded all over the kitchen.... and fell on the linoleum floor- melted it everywhere it landed.

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  15. It was fabulous, one of the best recipes ever, according to my family. We live in Niagara, and I plan to make it with peaches next, as they are just ripening on the trees.

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    1. I am so pleased that you enjoyed the recipe and it turned out for you. Peach sounds absolutely fabulous!

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    2. Today I made it with sour cherries. This is the best fruit recipe!

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  16. I also would like to know if frozen rhubarb can be used, and if so, should I thaw and drain it first?

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    1. I mentioned in my post that this is very similar to Bev Rhubarb Meringue Dessert and she says that you can use frozen rhubarb. I personally have never done it. Try it and let us know how it turns out.

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  17. shirley bertheletteAugust 9, 2014 at 11:28 AM

    Hi Charlotte-- I just finished baking this,, and it looks sooo good,, thanks again >! and my glass pan did not break,,(LOL)

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  18. What do you mean by icing sugar? Powdered?

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  19. I printed this recipe months ago and it's floated about the kitchen waiting for me. With 2 cups of rhubarb, 1 cup of strawberries, and 1 cup of blackberries buried in the freezer, the time had come to make this. No joke, my husband proclaimed the recipe his all time favorite dessert that I've ever made. I thought I would drop you a note and let you know how much our family enjoyed this dish of deliciousness. And yes, I used the crumb topping. Mine actually took about 15 minutes longer in the oven. I waited for a nice golden topping. It was perfect, and thankfully no glass breakage :) Thanks for sharing!

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  20. I just pulled out this dessert out of the oven.. I had a meringue like thin crust form on top, which cracked while being cut. I guess, I had over beaten the batter. What do you think?
    I had wondered if this dessert could be frozen. I also would decrease the 2 cups of sugar as the dessert is way too sweet even with the four cups of Rhubarb. I am going to try again, but will wait to hear if I had over beaten the batter and if it can be successful frozen.

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    1. Hi Marilyn, thanks for the questions and I will try to answer best I can. I am curious, did you put crumbs on top and then you still got a thin layer of meringue like topping? I didn't think that when eggs were beaten into a batter with flour that it could do that, or at the very least it has not been my experience. If that is the way yours turned out and you still enjoyed eating it I think that would be just fine. Can you freeze this dessert, yes, even if you get a thin like meringue crust on it. My recommendation would be to thaw it uncovered, that way the crumbs don't get soggy. I hope this helps.

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  21. Thanks for the reply, I did do another pan of the same square recipe that same day. And it turned out lovely.. I did beat the eggs but only for a few minutes, and then add the rest. The batter was not as airy and fluffy as the first try and the mixture covered the rhubarb and the rhubarb could be seen when spread out, where I couldn't see the four cups of the fruit in the first batter! I couldn't cut the first dessert without the meringue smashing, but it went to a fence building bee and quickly disappeared. Lol.. I also reduced the sugar to 1 1/4 -1 1/2 cups and it was still plenty sweet.. I was able to cut the pan into small serving pieces, I think about 36
    pieces..

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  22. I once had the same problem with a pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving-my kitchen is small and antiquated, but we have never starved! I set the pie on the hot element to rest as I took it out of the oven and BOOM-inedible due to the shards of glass that might be present. There was a pall and a moment of silence as it sank in that there would only be apple pie that year…pumpkin is the hubster's favourite!

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  23. Where does the 1/2 cup of whipping cream go in the filling? It's in the ingredients list but not in the instructions. Same for the cream in the crumb topping. When and how do you add it?

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    Replies
    1. I have amended the recipe in the instructions, so I hope it is more clear.

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