Strawberry Rhubarb Crème Pâtissière Shortcake : Part 1

Start with the freshest ingredients that you can find.

(Preferably straight from your garden or backyard.)

This is a 3 part recipe. It includes:

• How to harvest rhubarb and stew it with strawberries to make a compote;

• How to make crème pâtissière from eggs and coconut milk; and

• How to make shortcake using ground pecans.

Stewed Strawberry Rhubarb Compote:

• Harvest 1.5 cups of strawberries.

See What I See:
In the photo (below) you can see what a small patch of rhubarb looks like. This patch is still in its infancy and is only 2 years old.

• Harvest the rhubarb by cutting it close to ground level.

• Then, cut the leaves from the stalks.

Compost the rhubarb leaves. They’re exceptionally poisonous. They contain oxalic acid which can (very quickly) cause kidney failure in humans, if ingested.

• Wash the stalks and cut them into small pieces.

• .5 cups of chopped rhubarb.

Rhubarb is actually quite a sour vegetable but when it’s stewed and paired with other fruit, it adds a tangy, mouth puckering, quality to any fruit-based recipe.

Rhubarb is a perennial which means that once it is planted, it will grow every year. Rhubarb is a vintage vegetable and some patches can get massive. It’s also exceptionally hardy which means that it’s difficult to kill. For these reasons, it’s advisable to plant a patch, in a location that you can contain.

• Cut the strawberries into small pieces.

• Add the rhubarb and strawberries to a medium-size pot.

• Add .25 cups of the juice (of your choice) along with the juice of .5 a lime. (I used cherry juice but orange or apple would work, equally, as well.)

• Adjust the flame to medium and be prepared to continually stir the pot.

(The berries and juice contain a lot of natural sugars. Keep the mixture moving so that it doesn’t burn while it cooks down. This stewing process takes approximately 15-20 minutes to achieve the correct consistency.)

Just keep stirring. ;)

The berries and rhubarb will meld together and become a cohesive mass in your pot.

• Remove the pot from the flame and add 2 tablespoons of maple syrup.

The finished compote should be thick and stick to the back of a spoon, like pudding.

~ Rebecca