Rhubarb and Ginger Brûlée

Rhubarb is just coming into season and at its very best. I have to say that after 40 years of devising crumbles, tarts, trifles and other uses for rhubarb, this season’s offering has narrowly – but positively – claimed the top spot. First of all, it’s simple to make, and secondly it’s perfect for serving either at an elegant supper or a special family Sunday lunch.

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Method

You need to begin this by trimming and chopping the rhubarb into 2.5cm chunks, then pile them into a bowl, add the sugar and the ground and chopped ginger and toss them all together. After that, transfer everything to the baking dish, pop it into the oven on the centre shelf and bake for 20 minutes. Then carefully stir the rhubarb, turning it over, and bake for another 10–15 minutes or until it’s tender.

When it’s cooked, leave the rhubarb to get completely cold, then tip as much of the juice out by drawing the fruit back gently with a draining spoon and allowing the juice to drain from one end of the tilted dish.

When you’re ready to do the brûlée, preheat the grill to its highest setting for 15 minutes. Now combine the yogurt and thick cream in a bowl, and spoon it evenly over the top, making sure it goes right up to the edges of the dish. Next spoon the sugar evenly over the cream right up to the edges, and when the grill is really hot, place the dish about 7.5cm from the heat, and just let the sugar melt, bubble and caramelise to a rich golden brown. This will take about 8 minutes, but you’ll need to keep an eye on it as it may need a bit more or less time.

When it’s cooled and the caramel has set, you can cover with clingfilm and keep it in the fridge till needed (it can be made up to 8 hours in advance). To serve, tap the caramel with a spoon and serve just as it
is – nothing else needed.

Notes on ingredients
For a lighter version, the brûlée can be made with all yogurt or a 500g tub of fresh vanilla custard. If you don’t want to use preserved ginger add another quarter teaspoon ground ginger. This recipe is also brilliant with summer berries. And in the winter a pack of British garden fruits (or other frozen fruits) but in either case minus the ginger.

Nutrition 666kcals/71.8g carbohydrate/71.8g sugars/41.7g fat/25.1g saturated fat/0.2g salt per serving