The Giro d’Italia second stage finishes in Utrecht! And to me that’s a fine excuse to do something with rhubarb again. But *any* excuse goes, when it comes to making some rhubarb curd: that stuff is terrific!
Rhubarb curd!
When I looked for a recipe for rhubarb bars, I came across several posts with rhubarb curd – and those all seemed really… “drool-worthy” is the word; and they looked awesome too. There’s pancakes with rhubarb curd, and shortbread topped with it, and yet another with shortbread, and rhubarb curd merengue tarts. So much to try! Earlier, I’ve made lime curd to top a cheesecake, and so I was playing around with the idea to do something like that again: a curd on top of cheesecake. Today’s Giro event passing through Doorn sealed the deal – what better way to make something Giro pink than with some velvety luscious rhubarb curd?
The Giro d’Italia in Doorn
Like the song says – they’re In Our Town! (check out that Gasoline Brothers clip on YouTube) On their way to Utrecht, the guys passed through Doorn at about 2.15 PM.
^ Here’s Rick Flens leading the pack, woo-hoo …
^ There’s the pack, three minutes later …
^ …And there they go again, an immense train of *material* following the riders.
Without further ado, on to the Giro bars!
recipe: Giro Bars: chocolate, yoghurt and a Giro-pink rhubarb curd top
This amount is for a 16 x 21cm baking tin or ovenproof dish
chocolate bottom:
- 1 egg
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
- 200 gr brown sugar
- 200 gr butter or margarine
- 100 gr dark chocolate
- 250 gr ladyfingers and graham crackers
- 50 gr almond slivers
yoghurt filling:
- 250 ml Greek (thick) yoghurt
- 100 gr white chocolate
- 150 ml water
- 5 leaves white gelatine
rhubarb curd top:
- 300 gr rhubarb
- 150 gr sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 teasp lemon zest
- 2 teasp juice
- 100 gr butter or margarine
- 3 leaves of gelatine
Method: chocolate bottom
Combine egg and sugars using a whisk. Melt butter over a low heat, remove from heat and add the chocolate to melt as well. Slowly pour in the egg mixture and blend well. Crumble cookies in a large bowl. Add the chocolaty mixture to the cooies, covering everything well. Pour the cookie mass in a thick layer in a dish or tin, lined with foil or parchment. Press top flat with a spoon and set aside.
Some people might recognize this as Arretje’s Cake*! On its own it’s awesome, but maybe a bit too much. With the yoghurt/rhubarb top, and the smallish portions, I like it even better.
Yoghurt filling
Adding this sets off the sweet richness of the chocolate bottom, and combines awesomely with the rhubarb curd.
Heat up the water in a double boiler or a small pan set over boiling water – au bain marie – and dissolve the gelatine in it. When warm, add the white chocolate and stir to dissolve the chocolate in the warm water. Add to the yoghurt and whisk using a mixer into a creamy smooth substance. Pour a 1 cm layer on top of the chocolate base, and leave to set; preferably overnight.
made with leftover quantities: Arretje’s cake bottom with yoghurt top
The rhubarb curd
Stew the rhubarb with a little water over medium heat into a pink purée. If you have an old-fasioned variety of rhubarb from your garden, chances are that the pink isn’t very bright; you can enhance that with one or two spoonfuls of strawberry jam. Press the purée through a sieve to turn it into a smooth substance without fibers or lumps, ready to be made curd of.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Place the rhubarb in the double boiler or over boiling water, and when warm – not hot! – slowly add the egg mix, all the time stirring constantly. Slowly heat up this mixture to the point where it starts to thicken; about 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir to dissolve. If you expect you have too much for a layer in your prepared dish, pour that part into a boiled-clean jar – to savour later on a piece of toast: yumm…
Soak 3 leaves of gelatine into some cold water for 5 minutes, then add to the warm rhubarb curd, and stir to dissolve. This firms the curd up enough to be able to be cut it and keep its shape later. Pour the warm curd over the already set yoghurt layer in the dish. Leave for at least 3 hours in the fridge. Then cut into blocks of 2 x 3 cm, and serve for example as dessert, with tea or coffee.
*) Arretjes Cake: named after a commercial cartoon figure by the name of Arretje Nof. This Arretje, “a little Turkish boy born in Bagdad”, was the hero in a series of booklets that appeared in the Netherlands between 1927 and 1957. The booklets were the prize in a savings scheme from the Nederlandse Olie Fabriek (NOF), later part of Calvé. The original recipe was based on an older Italian one, and used to promote their brand of fat. And to judge by the note below my mothers recipe, this cake was regarded as a luxury reserved for special occasions: “serve with coffee liqueur” – absolute extravagance :-)
Giro Bars: chocolate, yoghurt and a Giro-pink rhubarb curd top
The Giro d’Italia second stage finishes in Utrecht! And to me that’s a fine excuse to do something with rhubarb again. But *any* excuse goes, when it comes to making some rhubarb curd: that stuff is terrific!
Rhubarb curd!
When I looked for a recipe for rhubarb bars, I came across several posts with rhubarb curd – and those all seemed really… “drool-worthy” is the word; and they looked awesome too. There’s pancakes with rhubarb curd, and shortbread topped with it, and yet another with shortbread, and rhubarb curd merengue tarts. So much to try! Earlier, I’ve made lime curd to top a cheesecake, and so I was playing around with the idea to do something like that again: a curd on top of cheesecake. Today’s Giro event passing through Doorn sealed the deal – what better way to make something Giro pink than with some velvety luscious rhubarb curd?
The Giro d’Italia in Doorn
Like the song says – they’re In Our Town! (check out that Gasoline Brothers clip on YouTube) On their way to Utrecht, the guys passed through Doorn at about 2.15 PM.
^ Here’s Rick Flens leading the pack, woo-hoo …
^ There’s the pack, three minutes later …
^ …And there they go again, an immense train of *material* following the riders.
Without further ado, on to the Giro bars!
recipe: Giro Bars: chocolate, yoghurt and a Giro-pink rhubarb curd top
This amount is for a 16 x 21cm baking tin or ovenproof dish
chocolate bottom:
yoghurt filling:
rhubarb curd top:
Method: chocolate bottom
Combine egg and sugars using a whisk. Melt butter over a low heat, remove from heat and add the chocolate to melt as well. Slowly pour in the egg mixture and blend well. Crumble cookies in a large bowl. Add the chocolaty mixture to the cooies, covering everything well. Pour the cookie mass in a thick layer in a dish or tin, lined with foil or parchment. Press top flat with a spoon and set aside.
Some people might recognize this as Arretje’s Cake*! On its own it’s awesome, but maybe a bit too much. With the yoghurt/rhubarb top, and the smallish portions, I like it even better.
Yoghurt filling
Adding this sets off the sweet richness of the chocolate bottom, and combines awesomely with the rhubarb curd.
Heat up the water in a double boiler or a small pan set over boiling water – au bain marie – and dissolve the gelatine in it. When warm, add the white chocolate and stir to dissolve the chocolate in the warm water. Add to the yoghurt and whisk using a mixer into a creamy smooth substance. Pour a 1 cm layer on top of the chocolate base, and leave to set; preferably overnight.
made with leftover quantities: Arretje’s cake bottom with yoghurt top
The rhubarb curd
Stew the rhubarb with a little water over medium heat into a pink purée. If you have an old-fasioned variety of rhubarb from your garden, chances are that the pink isn’t very bright; you can enhance that with one or two spoonfuls of strawberry jam. Press the purée through a sieve to turn it into a smooth substance without fibers or lumps, ready to be made curd of.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Place the rhubarb in the double boiler or over boiling water, and when warm – not hot! – slowly add the egg mix, all the time stirring constantly. Slowly heat up this mixture to the point where it starts to thicken; about 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir to dissolve. If you expect you have too much for a layer in your prepared dish, pour that part into a boiled-clean jar – to savour later on a piece of toast: yumm…
Soak 3 leaves of gelatine into some cold water for 5 minutes, then add to the warm rhubarb curd, and stir to dissolve. This firms the curd up enough to be able to be cut it and keep its shape later. Pour the warm curd over the already set yoghurt layer in the dish. Leave for at least 3 hours in the fridge. Then cut into blocks of 2 x 3 cm, and serve for example as dessert, with tea or coffee.
*) Arretjes Cake: named after a commercial cartoon figure by the name of Arretje Nof. This Arretje, “a little Turkish boy born in Bagdad”, was the hero in a series of booklets that appeared in the Netherlands between 1927 and 1957. The booklets were the prize in a savings scheme from the Nederlandse Olie Fabriek (NOF), later part of Calvé. The original recipe was based on an older Italian one, and used to promote their brand of fat. And to judge by the note below my mothers recipe, this cake was regarded as a luxury reserved for special occasions: “serve with coffee liqueur” – absolute extravagance :-)
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