Candied Rhubarb:

[Darienne]

If it stands still long enough, I will try to candy it, but never thought of rhubarb. A friend sent me a recipe for Candied Rhubarb this morning which I saved...it turned out a garbled mess...hate computers. Then I googled candied rhubarb and found a few recipes.

However, has anyone tried it?

We'll be home in Ontario in a week and a half. And we have several hundred year old patches of rhubarb on the farm.

(As we speak I am drying a batch of ginger to take me on the long journey home. And using the last of February's candied kumquats in a batch of Alton Brown's Seriously Vanilla ice cream. What did I ever do for fun before Andie came into my life?)

[pastrygirl]

Whenever I cook rhubarb for more than about a minute, it totally falls apart. If anyone knows how to make it not fall apart, I'm curious. You might end up with something more like jam, but rhubarb jam would not be a bad thing!

[Darienne]

Whenever I cook rhubarb for more than about a minute, it totally falls apart.  If anyone knows how to make it not fall apart, I'm curious.  You might end up with something more like jam, but rhubarb jam would not be a bad thing!

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Good point. It appears some recipes talk about cutting the rhubarb into 5" long or so thin pieces and then slicing them into ribbons using a mandolin and then simply dipping them into a simple syrup which coats them and then they harden in the drying. I admit I haven't read the recipes very carefully...am getting ready to leave Moab...and was hoping for eG input. Sorry. Lazy and overtired at once.

And can't type either...

Edited April 24, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[pastrygirl]

Whenever I cook rhubarb for more than about a minute, it totally falls apart.  If anyone knows how to make it not fall apart, I'm curious.  You might end up with something more like jam, but rhubarb jam would not be a bad thing!

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Good point. It appears some recipes talk about cutting the rhubarb into 5" long or so thin pieces and then slicing them into ribbons using a mandolin and then simply dipping them into a simple syrup which coats them and then they harden in the drying. I admit I haven't read the recipes very carefully...am getting ready to leave Moab...and was hoping for eG input. Sorry. Lazy and overtired at once.

And can't type either...

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Ahh, well that might work. I was thinking of candying orange peels and all that boiling.

[John DePaula]

I recently made some candied kumquats and used a progressively sweeter syrup over several days. Syrup is boiled then poured over the kumquat pieces - no boiling of the kumquats. It's possible that would work for rhubarb without destroying the cell walls.

[Darienne]

I recently made some candied kumquats and used a progressively sweeter syrup over several days.  Syrup is boiled then poured over the kumquat pieces - no boiling of the kumquats.  It's possible that would work for rhubarb without destroying the cell walls.

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Thanks John and Pastry Girl.

I did the kumquats the same way...try them in vanilla ice cream. So good. I bet the candied Rhubarb would have much the same effect.

I'll just wash the stuff, get the DH to slice them (my manual dexterity is blown), and then into the syrup they go.

Friend back home...east central Ontario...has a ring to it, doesn't it?...informs me that green things are just poking up a tiny bit. It's been a cold April and we are up several hundred feet from the environs.

Oh, John...you poured the syrup over the kumquat, but you didn't heat them at all? Not even on low in a crock pot? I did mine on low in my crock pot.

[John DePaula]

I recently made some candied kumquats and used a progressively sweeter syrup over several days.  Syrup is boiled then poured over the kumquat pieces - no boiling of the kumquats.  It's possible that would work for rhubarb without destroying the cell walls.

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Thanks John and Pastry Girl.

I did the kumquats the same way...try them in vanilla ice cream. So good. I bet the candied Rhubarb would have much the same effect.

I'll just wash the stuff, get the DH to slice them (my manual dexterity is blown), and then into the syrup they go.

Friend back home...east central Ontario...has a ring to it, doesn't it?...informs me that green things are just poking up a tiny bit. It's been a cold April and we are up several hundred feet from the environs.

Oh, John...you poured the syrup over the kumquat, but you didn't heat them at all? Not even on low in a crock pot? I did mine on low in my crock pot.

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Correct, not even in a low crock pot. Here's a photo of the quartered & seeded kumquats - lovely and translucent:

[Darienne]

Correct, not even in a low crock pot.  Here's a photo of the quartered & seeded kumquats - lovely and translucent:

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Oooooh! Beautiful!

I will try that method. Please, each session of syrup of increasing sugared strength:

- how cool was it before pouring over the kumquats?

- how long did the kumquats sit each time?

They are radiant looking! I did mine whole and then had to cut them up to get out the seeds. However they pretty much all ended up in sauces and ice cream. Truthfully, I didn't even know they had such big seeds in them. Learn, learn, learn...

Thanks,

[John DePaula]

Correct, not even in a low crock pot.  Here's a photo of the quartered & seeded kumquats - lovely and translucent:

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Oooooh! Beautiful!

I will try that method. Please, each session of syrup of increasing sugared strength:

- how cool was it before pouring over the kumquats?

- how long did the kumquats sit each time?

They are radiant looking! I did mine whole and then had to cut them up to get out the seeds. However they pretty much all ended up in sauces and ice cream. Truthfully, I didn't even know they had such big seeds in them. Learn, learn, learn...

Thanks,

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The method is outlined, albeit incorrectly, in JP Wybauw's Fine Chocolates book, p. 70. The correct initial sugar syrup is 1000g Water + 600g Sugar (not vice-versa).

I think this is overkill for orange peels but hey, you can't argue with success.

[Darienne]

The method is outlined, albeit incorrectly, in JP Wybauw's Fine Chocolates book, p. 70.  The correct initial sugar syrup is 1000g Water + 600g Sugar (not vice-versa).

I think this is overkill for orange peels but hey, you can't argue with success.

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Thank you. Very interesting. I have never tried any fruits in this fashion, but now I will for sure. To me there is something fascinating about the process.

Glad you pointed out the error in the formula. What a hoot!

(Actually having been a 'non-cook' cook for lo! these many decades, I am finding the entire field of endeavor fascinating. Especially the alchemy of taking basically water and sugar and a touch of something else and creating pure magic.)

[Peter the eater]

I've made candied rhubarb from a recipe in Charlie Trotter's Vegetables. Without getting up and actually finding the book, I recall it involves slicing long strips with a peeler then simmering them in simple syrup followed by an oven drying process. You wind up with these beautiful translucent sticks of red and pink. CT stands them up and makes a tepee with them, highly photogenic. My rhubarb is a small nub in the dirt just waiting to bolt up, and when it does, I'm making some more candied rhubarb.

[Darienne]

I've made candied rhubarb from a recipe in Charlie Trotter's Vegetables. Without getting up and actually finding the book, I recall it involves slicing long strips with a peeler then simmering them in simple syrup followed by an oven drying process. You wind up with these beautiful translucent sticks of red and pink. CT stands them up and makes a tepee with them, highly photogenic. My rhubarb is a small nub in the dirt just waiting to bolt up, and when it does, I'm making some more candied rhubarb.

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A candied rhubarb tepee. Who knew?

Thanks. I'll look up the CT book.

[E.S.James]

As my backyard Rhubarb grows as I type [originally a division from my grandmother], I'm thinking I have to try this. Fortunately, I married someone who A) at least knew what Rhubarb was and B) Loves it. I HAVE to try this.

Now that I think of it, I need to check my freezer for any of last year's harvest that may be hidden deep in the back. It won't be for candying, but I may have enough for an individual tart.

[Peter the eater]

A candied rhubarb tepee.  Who knew?

My version looked like this:

[Darienne]

A candied rhubarb tepee.  Who knew?

My version looked like this:

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Thank you for the photo. I am speechless.

[The Omnivore]

This is such an interesting topic. We have a loquat tree and I'm curious as to whether or not those would be any good candied, but I'm going to have to try the process mention for kumquats.

Do let me know how the rhubarb turns out and what recipe you used because our household loves rhubarb and I'm sure would thoroughly enjoy it candied. The moment it pops out of the ground we rush to the store to make the most out of rhubarb tart season.

[Darienne]

This is such an interesting topic. We have a loquat tree and I'm curious as to whether or not those would be any good candied, but I'm going to have to try the process mention for kumquats.

Do let me know how the rhubarb turns out and what recipe you used because our household loves rhubarb and I'm sure would thoroughly enjoy it candied. The moment it pops out of the ground we rush to the store to make the most out of rhubarb tart season. 

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As for the rhubarb, I will report back ...but it will be a good while before that happens.

I don't know loquats. Sounds a bit like kumquats. Do they taste anything alike? I don't know which process would be more useful to candy them. If you wanted slices, then the Wybauw process for sure. If not, then one of Andie's processes would be better perhaps.

Depends also on the seeds in the fruit...whether you eat them or not...if there are seeds.

Do write back about the loquat please.

[pastrygirl]

Loquats are like bigger, sweeter kumquats, right? I vaguely remember sampling from a loquat tree in horticulture class in college.

There are also mandarin-quats being grown in I believe Southern CA that are a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin orange, about the size of an egg with edible rind like a kumquat. Not very common, and not in season now, but pretty cool if you ever come across them.

[Darienne]

Loquats are like bigger, sweeter kumquats, right?  I vaguely remember sampling from a loquat tree in horticulture class in college.

There are also mandarin-quats being grown in I believe Southern CA that are a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin orange, about the size of an egg with edible rind like a kumquat.  Not very common, and not in season now, but pretty cool if you ever come across them.

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I shall be on the look-out for them. Thanks.

[cats2]

Loquats are like bigger, sweeter kumquats, right?  I vaguely remember sampling from a loquat tree in horticulture class in college.

There are also mandarin-quats being grown in I believe Southern CA that are a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin orange, about the size of an egg with edible rind like a kumquat.  Not very common, and not in season now, but pretty cool if you ever come across them.

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Actually, loquats only have a passing resemblance to kumquats. Loquats aren't a citrus fruit.

I think it's the only one of the "quats" that isn't a citrus fruit, since the other ones seem to be hybrids of lime/orange/mandarin with kumquats.

[pastrygirl]

Loquats are like bigger, sweeter kumquats, right?  I vaguely remember sampling from a loquat tree in horticulture class in college.

There are also mandarin-quats being grown in I believe Southern CA that are a cross between a kumquat and a mandarin orange, about the size of an egg with edible rind like a kumquat.  Not very common, and not in season now, but pretty cool if you ever come across them.

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Actually, loquats only have a passing resemblance to kumquats. Loquats aren't a citrus fruit.

I think it's the only one of the "quats" that isn't a citrus fruit, since the other ones seem to be hybrids of lime/orange/mandarin with kumquats.

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Thanks for clearing that up. College was a long time ago

[Darienne]

Many thanks to you all for the fascinating information. You could live forever and learn something new every day.

[pringle007]

My gandmother used to candy rhubarb every summer. She sliced it thin, into about three or four inch strips, then took the raw rhubarb and dipped it in a sugr syrup. After that cooled, she oured another suagr mixture over them. Shes gone to the big kitchen up in the sky now, but the stuff was great. I inherited all her cookbooks and journals, and I have never found here canding method anywhere.

[Kouign Aman]

What is the texture of the candied rhubarb ribands like? Chewy and stringy? Not stringy? Tangy or all sweet?

[GlorifiedRice]

The past week I was watching a cooking show where a drink was topped with a candied rhubarb spiral