Rhubarb Bars – Cloudy Kitchen

Easy Rhubarb Bars with shortcake dough. A straightforward shortcake dough is cut up and pressed proper right into a pan then topped with rhubarb and the remainder of the dough. These rhubarb bars come collectively shortly and are an excellent recipe for baking with rhubarb.

Rhubarb Bars

Good day hi there! Merely popping in to re share the recipe for these Rhubarb Bars. These rhubarb shortcake bars have been on my website for various years now. They’re great straightforward to make – there could also be one base dough that varieties the underside and topping of the shortcake. I actually like a easy bar recipe, and these are exactly that!

I made these shortcake bars with current rhubarb nevertheless they’re great versatile and could also be made with totally different fruit too. The rhubarb is solely blended with some starch and arranged in a layer on prime of the underside. Then it is topped with the crumble topping and the whole factor goes into the oven.

These selfmade shortcake bars are easy and gratifying to make, and are an unlimited favourite in our dwelling, each as a quick throw collectively recipe or served with ice cream for dessert. I actually like baking with rhubarb – for easier rhubarb recipes check out my rhubarb pie and my easy rhubarb galette.

New Zealand Shortcake

That’s what we identify a shortcake in New Zealand – a fruit layer on prime of a dough base with additional dough topping it. They’re significantly completely totally different to what the US calls a shortcake, which is additional of a biscuit state of affairs. The pastry is transient and sweet, and the fruit layer is often pretty tart to offset the sweetness of the dough. Shortcake bars come collectively shortly and get assembled multi useful go along with no par baking wished.

• Make the shortbread crust. It’s a fundamental fast, sweet pastry that is made by creaming collectively butter and sugar after which together with dry substances.
• Divide the dough. The equivalent dough is used for the underside and topping of these shortcake bars. Weigh out a number of of the dough and press into the baking pan, and reserve the rest.
• Add the Rhubarb. Mix the rhubarb with a wee little little bit of sugar, tapioca starch and vanilla, stir to combine, then put together evenly on prime of the underside.
• Add remaining dough. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the rhubarb. It is advisable add it in chunks.
• Bake. The Rhubarb Shortcake Bars bake until the topping is golden and the filling is effervescent. The bars need slightly bit time to relax sooner than slicing so the fruit layer can set.

Two strategies to make Rhubarb Shortcake Bars

I initially made these rhubarb bars as confirmed inside the photos beneath. To try this, I chilled the dough after mixing then rolled it out and decrease it into squares. One in every of many squares was the underside and the other the lid. That’s how we make an apple shortcake in NZ. It’s a little bit fiddly but it surely certainly works.

I despatched the recipe of this rhubarb shortcake to my pal Lisa various years prior to now (she is an amazing NZ based pastry chef), and she or he tailor-made it by together with the dough on in chunks on prime of the fruit versus my sandwich methodology. It actually works so considerably higher and is much quicker. So it solely made sense to moreover re-shoot this rhubarb shortcake using the equivalent methodology. It tastes the equivalent, merely has a particular format and features a lot a lot much less mucking spherical and chilling pastry.

Learn to make shortcake bars with totally different fruit

The beauty of these shortcake bars is that the recipe is great versatile. You’ll utterly make this with totally different fruit. You would possibly merely add in some blueberries or totally different fruit along with the rhubarb. Shortcake may be sometimes made with berries or plums proper right here in Nz. You would possibly use these parts for strawberry rhubarb. Or, chances are you’ll make this your private. Merely take into consideration to control the starch and sugar as wished as completely totally different fruit have completely totally different moisture and sweetness. Some decisions you would possibly make:

• Strawberry rhubarb bars using the fruit parts in my strawberry rhubarb bars recipe
• Peaches, Apricots, Plums, nectarines – about 750g fruit should go along with about 23g starch after which approx 75g sugar. Modify as wished! I do a mix of regardless of I’ve.
• Rhubarb and Blueberry – Sub a number of of the rhubarb for current or frozen blueberries
• Cranberry – this recipe works good with frozen cranberries you most likely have any leftover from one thing! The filling is 450g frozen or current cranberries, 15g tapioca starch, 125g granulated sugar, ½ tsp vanilla, ¼ tsp salt, after which 20g water or orange juice. Baking and assembly instructions are the equivalent.
• Blended berry – I’d adjust to associated proportions to the cranberry nevertheless alter the sugar as wished. It should moreover work good with frozen berries.
• Apple – I used 750g diced apple with 90g sugar and 25g tapioca starch (use a lot much less in case you might be using cornflour / corn starch – you need about half the quantity)

FAQ for Rhubarb Bars

Can I exploit cornstarch as an alternative of tapioca starch?
Certain. I’ve by no means tried it nevertheless I’d do about 1 tbsp plus 1 tsp worth of cornstarch (cornflour do you have to’re from nz). I actually like tapioca starch as a result of it items clear nevertheless cornstarch moreover will work. You sometimes need half the quantity of cornstarch if tapioca starch often called for inside the recipe. I will substitute as rapidly as I’ve examined it!

Is there meant to be baking powder inside the crust recipe?
Certain – it is meant to be there!

How do you retailer rhubarb bars?
Retailer your rhubarb bars frivolously lined at room temperature. Do not put in a sealed container or they’re going to go soggy.

For additional Rhubarb recipes, check out:

Recipe for Rhubarb Bars

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Rhubarb Bars

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5 from 30 critiques

• Author: Erin Clarkson

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  Prep Time: 30

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  Prepare dinner dinner Time: 45

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  Full Time: 1 hour 15

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  Yield: 16 servings 1x

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  Class: Shortcake

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  Method: Baking

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  Delicacies: New Zealand

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Description

Rhubarb Bars are great easy to make. A straightforward shortcake dough is cut up and pressed proper right into a pan then topped with rhubarb and the remainder of the dough. These rhubarb shortcake bars come collectively shortly and are an excellent recipe for baking with rhubarb.

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Sweet Pastry

• 225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 150g granulated sugar
• 2 huge eggs (100 grams), at room temperature
• 1 tsp (4g) vanilla bean paste
• 450g all-purpose flour
• 1 ¾ teaspoons (8.75g) baking powder
• ½ tsp (1.5g) kosher salt

Rhubarb Filling

• 750g trimmed rhubarb, chopped into ½” gadgets
• 2 Tbsp (16g) tapioca starch
• 80g granulated sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
• ½ tsp salt
• Powdered Sugar to mud

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Instructions

SWEET PASTRY

1. Preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c. Line a 9” sq. baking tin with two gadgets of parchment paper, forming a “sling” in an effort to easily take away the bars.
2. Inside the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream collectively the butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one after the opposite, mixing to combine sooner than together with the following. Scrape down the bowl. Add the vanilla and mix to incorporate.
3. In a medium bowl, sift collectively the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the moist substances and mix on low until blended.
4. Weigh out 475g of the mixture, and press evenly into the underside of the prepared pan, smoothing the ground with the underside of a consuming glass or with an offset spatula. Set the rest aside.

ASSEMBLY

1. In a medium bowl, place the rhubarb, tapioca starch, granulated sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt, and mix with a spatula until correctly blended. Unfold the rhubarb mixture evenly over the ground of the dough – do not press down too exhausting.
2. Crumble the remaining dough over the ground of the rhubarb, making sure that you just add it in an excellent layer.
3. Bake the bars for 40 to 45 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the fruit filling is effervescent. Within the occasion that they topping is starting to brown sooner than they’re carried out, frivolously cowl the pan with foil. Allow to relax completely sooner than using the parchment paper to remove from the pan. Slice into bars, and dust with powdered sugar.
4. Retailer leftovers frivolously lined with a paper towel at room temperature for as a lot as 3 days. Do not retailer in an airtight container as they’re going to go soggy.

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Notes

For notes on totally different fruit to utilize in these bars, please see the half inside the physique of the publish.