Bring on the tartness!

On Sunday, I talked about how we were excited to find fresh rhubarb in the store again. I have a few recipes that I have been wanting to try it in, but it will be hard to top the one we made tonight.

Rhubarb Pudding Cake starts with a base of chunky rhubarb that is sprinkled with granulated sugar to tame its inherent tartness down a notch. Next, a spicy light batter is dolloped on top - it is ok if it does not cover everything, this batter will spread into all the nooks and crannies as it bakes away. This results in a light and tender cake scented with vanilla that hides a bottom layer of tart juicy rhubarb. I think some rhubarb muffins will have to be the next adventure with the next batch we buy! *Tip - If you find rhubarb with the leaves still attached, make sure to remove them as they contain toxic levels of oxalic acid.

Okay, so we are suckers for breaskfast at dinnertime. Why not add another to the list? And this one comes with a twist for the syrup! Buttermilk-Banana Pancakes with Pomegranate Syrup are light and fluffy pancakes enriched with dry farina. Buttermilk keeps them tender and to make sure the banana flavor is present in each bite, leave some large bits when you are mashing them. While these tasted good by themselves, the sweet syrup made from pure maple syrup spiked with an equal amount of pomegranate juice moved them from good basic banana pancakes to "quite tasty - I'll have more please!" Because the juice thins the maple syrup down, cornstarch mixed with a little more juice is added to bring the consistency and thick mouth feel back to the syrup.

Recipes
Rhubarb Pudding Cake
Buttermilk-Banana Pancakes with Pomegranate Syrup