I still had a little rhubarb left over from the buckle and need something to make with it. One of my friends posted a pic of rhubarb shortcakes that looked pretty good, so I thought I’d try it. I found a recipe that called for red wine (awesome), and got to work making a small batch.
For this recipe, you roast the rhubarb with wine and sugar. I roasted the rhubarb for the recommended time, but it was still a little hard and the juice a bit thin, so I put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Now the rhubarb was too soft and the juice was still runny, so I removed the rhubarb, put the pan on the stove and reduced the liquid until it became a thick.
Overall I thought everything was pretty good (even if the rhubarb was a little mushy), but if I had to make one criticism, I would say that the rhubarb was a little too sweet for me. I chose a pinot noir (actually the guy at Trader Joe’s picked out pinot), which may have been a little sweet to begin with (maybe?), but it definitely fruitiness that I didn’t mind. I probably should have cut back on the sugar. I’m definitely going to make this again, but maybe with more wine, less sugar and a smidgen of lemon.
Rhubarb Shortcakes
for the roasted rhubarb
- 2 pounds rhubarb (, trimmed, sliced 1" thick)
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 vanilla bean (, split lengthwise)
for the shortcakes
- 1 cup cake flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour plus more for work surface
for the whipped cream
- 3 cups chilled heavy cream (, divided)
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Make the roasted rhubarb
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine rhubarb, sugar, and wine in a medium baking dish or ovenproof skillet. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean and toss to combine.
- Roast until rhubarb is very tender and juices are syrupy, 30-40 minutes, depending on thickness of stalks. Let cool. Discard vanilla bean.
Make the shortcakes
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Whisk cake flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and 1 cup all-purpose flour in a medium bowl to combine. Add 1 1/2 cups cream; gently mix just until dough holds together.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and form into a 9×6″ rectangle about 1″ thick. Cut dough in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise 3 times to form 8 rectangular biscuits.
- Arrange biscuits on a parchment paper- lined baking sheet, spacing 1″ apart. Brush tops and sides of biscuits with butter. Bake until golden brown, 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool (biscuits can be served warm or at room temperature).
Make the whipped cream
- Beat remaining 1 1/2 cups cream in a medium bowl until soft peaks form. Split biscuits and brush cut sides with remaining melted butter. Fill biscuits with roasted rhubarb and serve with whipped cream.
Adapted from epicurious.com
