20 Delicious Rhubarb Desserts for Spring

January 16, 2021
Credit: Jennifer Causey

With its brightly hued, pinkish-red stalks, rhubarb is one of the most eye-catching veggies at the farmers' market (or grocery, if you're lucky enough to live near a store that stocks this unusual vegetable).  On its own, rhubarb has a rather tart flavor, but sweetening it with sugar and/or pairing with various fruits (often strawberries) yields an irresistible flavor profile that's perfect for sweet-tart desserts.  From traditional Rhubarb Pie and Strawberry Rhubarb Cobber, to more creative twists, such as Bluebarb Pie Ice Cream Sundaes and Rhubarb Cardamom Galette, this collection of rhubarb desserts showcases all the wonderful ways this colorful springtime veggie can satisfy a sweet tooth.  

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Rhubarb Custard Pie

Credit: Jen Causey; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
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Our Rhubarb Custard Pie is the perfect union of creamy, decadent custard and soft, tangy rhubarb. The simplicity of this pie brings out the best in rhubarb’s flavor: There’s just enough sugar to counteract the tartness, but not so much that it ruins the integrity of the pie. The freshest in-season rhubarb, particularly ruby red rhubarb, will yield a pretty color that stands out from the custard.

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Rhubarb Cheesecake

Credit: Jen Causey; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
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Our Rhubarb Cheesecake is a crowd-pleaser for a reason: The filling is super creamy and maintains the perfect balance of sweet and tangy, while the crust is crunchy and keeps its structure. When baking the cheesecake in a water bath, make sure the water remains at least halfway up the springform pan to prevent cracks and sinking.

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Rhubarb Pie

Credit: Jen Causey; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
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This is the pie for rhubarb lovers. It’s simple, as to best highlight the fresh, seasonal rhubarb, and the shortcut of using a pre-made pie crust helps shave off some time and frustration. All the ingredients are easy to find, especially in the spring, but be sure to use fresh rhubarb—frozen has too much water.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Credit: Jen Causey; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
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How do you make the warmed up sweet-tart flavors of strawberry cobbler even better? By adding rhubarb to the mix—strawberries and rhubarb’s seasons (April to June) coincide, so it’s only natural to combine them. You’ll want to use the freshest possible strawberries and rhubarb for this pie.  

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Rhubarb Bread With Pecan Streusel

Credit: Jen Causey; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
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This tender rhubarb bread has a light citrusy flavor and beautiful flecks of pink rhubarb throughout. The crunchy streusel on top, complete with brown sugar, pecans, and hints of cardamom and nutmeg, takes this bread over the top and adds a delightfully nutty flavor. Be sure to use the freshest in-season rhubarb possible.

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Rhubarb Cake

Credit: Jen Causey; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
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Our Rhubarb Cake is one sweet (but not too sweet) way to celebrate spring’s seasonal bounty. Even though it’s a cake, the texture is more reminiscent of a quick bread, such as banana bread, meaning it would be a great side dish for breakfast or fantastic if transformed into muffins. We tossed rhubarb in the flour so the pieces wouldn’t fall to the bottom in the oven. The granulated sugar provides just the right amount of sweetness to contrast the tangy rhubarb.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Granola

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Mary Claire Britton
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Ian Rynecki, the executive chef at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards in Virginia, came up with this recipe, which is one of the most sophisticated fruit crisps we’ve ever tasted. The crunchy, lightly spiced granola topping takes a bit of time to make, but it’s the star of this dish and can be made in advance in stages. Store the prepared, cooled quinoa and almonds in airtight containers at room temperature up to three days.

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Strawberry-Rhubarb Pretzel Pie

Credit: Iain Bagwell
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Remember that strawberry-pretzel salad that showed up at every church supper? We’ve turned it into your new favorite pie with a salty-sweet pretzel crust and added zip from rhubarb. We all love our classic desserts, but sometimes it is fun to change them up a bit and create something new. The frozen strawberries used in the traditional recipe are fine if it is the middle of winter but, since plump, fresh berries available at the Farmers’ Market, we thought they would make a delicious change to this pie.

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Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

Credit: Jennifer Causey
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A hint of fresh thyme gives this rustic cake a faint herbaceous quality that complements the warmth of cardamom and ginger and the tang of rhubarb. Be patient when turning the cake out of the pan; it may take several minutes for it to fully release. The surprise ingredient in the batter (mayonnaise) is an old-school trick for creating a supermoist cake. A dollop of Greek yogurt cuts through the richness of the cake—but you can omit it if you’d like.

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Mom's Rhubarb-Apple Crisp

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Honeycrisp and Golden Delicious apples hold their shape well and won't get too mushy after baking. Brown sugar lends deep molasses flavor to the topping.

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Strawberry-Rhubarb Trifle

Credit: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Lindsey Lower/Claire Spollen
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This show-stopping layered dessert will be a hit at your next luncheon or shower.

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Rhubarb Jam Cheesecakes

Credit: Brian Kennedy; Styling: Lindsey Lower
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Pull a cake out when you start making dinner, and it'll be ready for dessert. Now that's sweet!

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Rhubarb Verrines with Salty Macadamia Crumble

Credit: Alex Farnum
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This layered French-style dessert, created by Yigit Pura of Tout Sweet Pâtisserie in San Francisco, is all about exciting flavor and textural contrasts--a luxurious, creamy base topped with a crisp and buttery cookie crumble and tangy-sweet fruit. Save any leftover toppings for a deluxe breakfast yogurt the next day.

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Bluebarb Pie Ice Cream Sundaes

Credit: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Karen Shinto
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No need to haul out the ice cream maker or pie plate for this ode to summer pies. Store-bought vanilla ice cream swirled with sweet-tart rhubarb compote, plus shortbread "crust" crumbles, gives new meaning to pie à la mode. Use other berries if you like.

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Rhubarb-Apple Pie

Credit: Randy Mayor; Styling: Cindy Barr
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Pair fresh sliced rhubarb with sliced Granny Smith apples and add a little cinnamon and sugar for this delicious rhubarb-apple pie. 

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Strawberry-Rhubarb Hand Pies

Credit: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Allison R. Banks
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Crisp rhubarb has a tart flavor that teams up perfectly with sweet strawberries.

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Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake with Rosemary Caramel Sauce

Credit: Thomas J. Story
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We were intrigued, if skeptical, about trying this dessert of rhubarb, caramel, and rosemary from Brock Windsor, chef-owner of Stone Soup Inn in Vancouver Island's Cowichan Valley in B.C. But the unusual combo bowled us over. Though the recipe is time intensive, nothing is difficult.

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Rhubarb Cardamom Galette

Credit: Annabelle Breakey; Styling: Randy Mon
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This dessert is far from the ordinary, but completely worth the effort for the phenomenal flavor. A French-inspired pastry with a mild tart flavor and hint of pungent spice give you a simply unique Western-instilled treat.

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Strawberry-Rhubarb Ice Cream

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Cindy Barr
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Make a nonalcoholic version of this grown-up strawberry-rhubarb ice cream by substituting cranberry juice cocktail for the wine.

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Citrusy Rhubarb Sorbet

Credit: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Jan Gautro
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A refreshing frozen dessert, enjoyed by the spoonful, is a satisfying ending to a delicious dinner. Garnish with mint sprigs and strips of orange rind for a festive display.

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