Most of Europe basked in sunshine throughout April which got the rhubarb growing much earlier than usual. 6 days after I spotted the first growth we had usable stems! Following on from my goal last summer not to waste a stick of rhubarb, here is the first rhubarb recipe of the season.
What is a slice?
Slice, in a biscuit / afternoon tea form was completely new to us until we moved to Australia where there are literally, 1000’s of recipes for slice. It may seem like double the effort; baking the biscuit base and then the topping but the bonus is the 2 textured result. Despite that, they are easy to make, keep well, go a long way and super versatile as you can mix and match recipes quite easily. I use the same biscuit base here as for the Almond Slice in our cookbook.
Rhubarb & Ginger Slice
For the biscuit base:
250g plain flour
230g unsalted butter
60g icing sugar
For the Topping:
545g rhubarb stems – red not green (more info? –> How to pick your rhubarb)
75g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 heaped teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or use an old pod where the seeds have already been used
4 medium free range eggs
2 teaspoons corn flour
Biscuit base
- Pre heat the oven to 180°C and line a 20cm square baking tin. I like to use re-usable liners but baking paper wil do the trick. Leave the liner hanging over the sides so you can lift the slice out easily after cooking.
- To make the base, place the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor and blitz for around 15 seconds until the butter is rubbed into the flour and you have a breadcrumb like texture. It’s best to pulse the food processor and keep checking the mixture – you don’t want it to become a dough. It is ready when you can press the mixture between two fingers and it stays together.
- If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this step by hand by rubbing the butter and flour between your fingers in a large bowl.
- Put the mixture in the tin and spread it evenly, pressing it into the base using the palm of your hand until it is even.
- Bake for 20 minutes until it’s turning golden. Don’t worry if you think this looks under-cooked for a biscuit as it goes back in the oven
- Turn the oven down to 160°C
Rhubarb topping
- While the biscuit base is cooking, wash the rhubarb stems and slice 1cm pieces or smaller of the red part of the rhubarb. Discard the green part.
- Put the rhubarb into a heavy based pan with half the sugar, ground and fresh ginger (if you love ginger, add more!) and the vanilla.
- Cook on a medium heat for about 10-12 minutes stirring occasionally until the rhubarb is completely soft.
- Move the mixture to a cool bowl or jug, remove vanilla pod if used and let cool for 5 minutes. Puree with a hand blender.
- In a separate bowl or a food mixer, whisk the eggs with the remaining sugar, add the rhubarb puree and mix through. lastly, add the cornflour and whisk until all combined.
- Pour the mixture over the biscuit base and pop back in the oven for 30 minutes. It is ready when the top stops wobbling.
- Enjoy at room temperature with a little dusting of icing sugar.
