Putting up Rhubarb for Rhubarb and Rosewater Macarons

Rhubarb is an under appreciated vegetable. It seems like everyone's mom had a little rhubarb patch when they were growing up, but given that I was vehemently disguised by all things resembling fruit, rhubarb was definitely NOT in the cards. To be honest, I only gained a new appreciation for the humble rhubarb this year, experimenting with one of my new summer macaron flavours - Rhubarb and Rosewater Macarons. My goal was to create a macaron that had the distinctive tartness of rhubarb, with a hint of floral.

I first made Rhubarb Jelly, straining out all of the fibres and adding sugar as per a traditional jelly recipes. This is quite nice, but very sweet with none of the tartness of the rhubarb remains. This will make a nice jelly spread on scones or lemon pound cake.

For my next batch, I used a different pectin, significantly less sugar, and I kept the fibres in (although they are blended quite small). The result is slightly sweet, tart, and very rhubarby!

Unfortunately I have no visual evidence they existed, but Rhubarb and Rosewater Macarons combine my tart homemade rhubarb jam with rose buttercream in a rose coloured shell - a delightful balance.

Comments

[Katherine Sparkes]

I know why there is no evidence of the Rhubarb and Rosewater macarons - when you make things that taste that delicious they disappear fast!