The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Rhubarb?

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Rhubarb?

Has anyone used rhubarb in bread? Not a quick bread, but a yeast bread. I'm mulling over trying some in a rye loaf and wondered if I should cook it first, or sweeten it, or what.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

so that ought to be helpful.  Natural dough enhancer.  Try mixing a little shredded raw with a little starter and see what happens.  How about partially dried?  Nope, haven't tried it yet.  Mixed with strawberries and made into jam is good on top.  Hmmm.  Onions are naturally sweet and so are carrots.

How about open face foccacia?   With a little black pepper perhaps and caramelized onion?

http://www.gettystewart.com/rhubarb-caramelized-onion-focaccia/

mutantspace's picture
mutantspace

rhubarb is very tart...technically a vegetable...very watery too...id stew with a dark muscovado sugar or honey (i usually stew with cinnamon, star anise, ginger and sugar/honey and then use it. 

clazar123's picture
clazar123

Rhubarb has 2 qualities that you need to consider if you want to incorporate it into your bread:

1.It is mostly water-it will dissolve in your bread as it bakes and leave a wet spot that delivers to your mouth the second quality and that is....  

2. SOUR.

It also has a flavor that is almost a little ....medicinal?? Hard to describe but I find it is always balanced out by aromatics like strawberry, cherry or onion. I have seen sweet and savory sweet recipes.

So considering its innate qualities, I would find an aromatic dough that is at least a little sweet and would benefit from pops of sour on the palate. I would also make sure to make these pops not too overwhelming both in size and quantity. I would add small diced pieces of rhubarb in my frst loaf as I would be conscerned that if I cooked it and added  it to the dough that the whole crumb would taste sour in an unpleasant way. SD sour has other qualities that rhubarb or vinegar sour would not have.

My .02

Have fun!

 

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

I've got rather a lot of it right now. Yesterday I made some rhubarb raspberry compote to have with yogourt and ice cream (yum), and I need to make another batch of rhubarb chutney. Which got me thinking about bread. So now I'm thinking of chutney-like ingredients - finely chopped rhubarb, maybe glazed with a little sugar syrup; raisins; crystallized ginger; spices... Should work in a sourdough, especially with some tasty whole grain flour!

mungie's picture
mungie

Would you mind sharing how you would incorporate a chutney into a sourdough?

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Haha, not the chutney itself, but some of the ingredients (like chopped rhubarb, sugar, raisins and crystallized ginger). I think the sourdough might add the 'vinegar' taste.

Of course, you probably could incorporate finished chutney instead, mixing it in to the dough. You'd probably get the flavour but not much of the actual bits would survive. Or you could spread it on flattened dough and roll it up, jelly roll style perhaps?

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

there is a sourdough using rhubarb and a yeast bread as well. Poached first is the way to go . 

https://www.thebreadshebakes.com/2016/04/rhubarb-bread-recipe/

https://www.google.com/search?q=sourdough+rhubarb+bread&oq=sourdough+rhu&aqs=chrome.4.0j69i57j0l4.8475j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#q=rhubarb+yeast+bread

you can flatten out the yeasted bread and used your drained flavored cooked rhubarb rolled up like you would a cinnamon swirl in the bread. Or follow the sourdough banana bread recipe here on TFL and fold in your stewed rhubarb instead of the bananas ! I have a freezer full of rhubarb so I am glad you posted and caused me to do a search. 

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/sourdoughbananabread

I have used this SD banana bread a LOT of times. I do let it sit and rest for an hour before I bake. I also usually use nicely developed levain that I purposely make extra of...I love the light texture one gets. I have subbed a number of different fruits and combinations and all have been wonderful. Good Luck c

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Excellent links; thanks! I especially like the one with stewed rhubarb as the 'liquid' in the dough. I think I might use molasses instead of muscovado sugar too, and maybe add a couple of other things. :)

trailrunner's picture
trailrunner

I grew up eating rhubarb in OH in the 50's from a plot that even then over 80 yrs old. I don't know if it still exists but I have a friend in WI and he has a huge plot and brings me 5# sacks of it cleaned/diced /frozen. I love the stuff. In Poland they make a drinkable sweetened concoction that is served chilled in crystal glasses. It is basically a sweetened chunky pink compote intended to be sipped. The first time I had it was in 1988....I nearly used my fingers to lick out the glass it was SO good :) Hope you will post back with your successes from the links above. c

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

Yes, me too. We always had tons of rhubarb. It's so easy to grow (I don't think you can actually kill it; I've tried!) and produces a lot. We always had stewed rhubarb around and would have rhubarb crisp in season. I think I might also try making some rhubarb cordial for mixing with homemade kombucha. Last year I made blackberry cordial and it was lovely.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

If you have more than a good sized bucket, make wine.  Might look into fermenting a good portion of it either as a kimchee or as wine.  Wonder what I can find...

https://kitchencounterculture121.wordpress.com/2015/04/23/rhu/

Kimchee or Kimchi  goes very well with empanadas, which is a food filled dough pocket.  Serve the kimchi as a veg side dish.  Or stuff it inside!  

I caught a glimpse of rhubarb and fennel while speed reading searches.  Fennel is also good with rye...  hint, hint ?

Mini

Lazy Loafer's picture
Lazy Loafer

See my blog post here for the latest rhubarb adventure. Maybe more to come, trying the stewed variety!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

Instant yeasted bread 500g flour. Half rye half wheat

Combine: 250g fine rye, 200g cooked rhubarb/apple, 100g water  (Chuck in a 20g dollup of mature sourdough if you like, the bread started out as a sourdough but then I decided to add instant yeast.)

Whisk together 150g wheat bread flour, 100g spelt, 1/2 teaspoon ground caraway, 6g bread spices, 10g salt, 7 g instant yeast

178g water 

(Basically substituted cooked and cooled thick rhubarb/apple sauce 200g for 100g water in the recipe.)  

Turned out a moist fantastic texture with a medium rise (a crumb typical of half rye half wheat breads here in Austria but slightly moister) and hubby had no idea rhubarb was in the recipe. Got a lot of added minerals that way.  No, the bread is not green. And yes, he will never find out, at least not directly from me. He might read the freezer label?

I first combined compote with the 200g rye flour and 100g of tepid water to acify the rye flour for an hour before making dough.  Mixed dough and allowed to rise one hour, shape paste in pan after a few folds with wet hands to degas and shape into a log.  Let rise about 40 min.  Used a long narrow dark loaf tin.  Domed Paste filled about one third of the pan. Was risen about another third before baking so top of dough was under the rim. Docked with a toothpick waited 10 min and smoothed over dough with a wet spatula.  Covered with a double foil tent (leave some rising room) pinched onto rim. 

Preheat oven to 220°C  Bake at 210°C Oven, covered for first 45 min. Remove foil tent, rotate and bake another 5-10 min. Mine baked for 52 min total for an inside temp of 100°C (210° F). Used Electric oven on bottom shelf, upper and lower heat, with a one inch high wire trivet to raise pan slightly.  

The apple rhubarb combination was not something to write home about.  Who knew it would make better bread than a compote?