Rhubarb Cream and Blueberry Pavlova

The title above may not sound as though it would work on Pavlova and it may not look that appetising in the photo but let me assure you,  Rhubarb Cream and Blueberry Pavlova is absolutely delicious!
My guests to whom I served this up last night agreed that it was very yummy and a success although I must admit we were all a wee bit dubious when I brought it to the table.

I managed to score some free rhubarb plants by the side of the road last year which didn’t look like they’d come to much, and took a good few months to actually start growing and looking as though they would survive, but they are thriving now.  I wasn’t sure if they would grow or be any good, this being our first year growing rhubarb, but they’ve been great.

You can see a couple of pics of the rhubarb plants (up against the fence near the black compost bin) in these photos.

Usually I make Rhubarb Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar Topping or Rhubarb and Yoghurt Crumble Cake when baking with rhubarb – this cake is divine by the way and another Eat Fresh recipe, or otherwise I whip up a quick rhubarb crumble or sponge pudding.

Yesterday I decided to make some Stewed Rhubarb (to keep it simple) using a recipe from Eat Fresh by Annabel Langbein.  I love this recipe book.  My lovely sister-in-law gave it to me a few years ago and as you can see she loves it too.

Stewed Rhubarb – Place 600g or fresh rhubarb in a pot with 2 cups water and 1 cup sugar.  Bring to simmer stirring to dissolve sugar and simmer for 12-15 mins or until pulpy.  Remove from heat, cool and cover.  Will keep for 4-5 days in the fridge or can be frozen.

Once boiled up it looked much too watery and I noticed under the Stewed Rhubarb recipe there were two more recipes using the rhubarb pulp and the liquid drained from it……

…..so I made Rhubarb Cordial from the liquid which was the most beautiful bright pink colour and a lovely tangy tart flavour ……… and Rhubarb Cream (sometimes known as Fool) to have on top of the Pavlova I decided I would need to make to go with the cream (haha, so much for keeping it simple – although I have discovered making a pav is actually very easy – this is the second time I’ve made pavlova and am feeling very proud of myself).

Separate into syrup and pulp – cool stewed rhubarb and strain through a fine sieve.

Rhubarb Cordial – Mix the juice/syrup with chilled soda or champagne (we used soda water).

Rhubarb Cream – Fold 1 cup of thoroughly drained pulp with 300ml chilled whipped cream.  Serve sandwiched between meringues or with Pavlova.

I added some extra stewed rhubarb on the top of the rhubarb cream for effect – and then threw on some blueberries for a bit of extra colour.

Tagged as: Pavlova, recipes, rhubarb