Grandma Gwen's Rhubarb "Cobbler"

My husband's grandmother was an amazing cook. She raised a family during the Depression Era, lost one of her two sons in WWII, lived to be nearly 101, and lived right across the street from my husband while he was growing up. We loved Grandma Gwen, and one of my granddaughters has her name. She was one of those cooks who really could make magic food....something from almost nothing, and she rarely used a concrete recipe. 

My husband carries around very warm fuzzy memories of things she made, hence my job of making fruitcake every year at Christmas. It's rhubarb season here, and the hill I planted several years ago from a friend's start is producing prolifically. I made some strawberry rhubarb jam last week, the first canning of the year, and my husband has already nearly finished off one of the jars. He loves rhubarb, but a lot of people don't know what to do with it. It's just kind of weird, red celery. It's also not very sweet. You have to dump a lot of sugar on it, a LOT to make it palatable. At this point my head says, "Why bother?" but the things we do for love... On the plus side, rhubarb freezes very well without any other work than cutting it up and putting it in freezer bags.

This is a recipe Grandma Gwen used to make from the rhubarb that grew by the ditch bank behind her house. She called it cobbler so that's what my husband calls it, but really it's just some yellow cake batter poured over some rhubarb and baked. This original recipe makes 2 (9") square pans, but now that it's just the two of us, I cut it in half and like baking it in an 8" square pan. My husband likes it warm with cream poured on it....because that's the way Grandma made it.

Rhubarb Cobbler

• Rhubarb, probably about 2-2 1/2 cups to cover the bottom of a square pan. You don't want just a single layer, but what I'll call a "crowded" layer with some pieces overlapping
• 3/4-1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening (Grandma's original recipe says shortening, but I use butter. Fat is fat.)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Cut up the rhubarb into about 1/2" pieces. Layer in pan and sprinkle with sugar so it's pretty well covered with sugar. Remember, we're trying to make something naturally sour and nasty, taste sweet and delicious.

Cream shortening (butter) and sugar, add egg and vanilla and beat well. Add dry ingredients and milk and beat for a couple of minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple of times so everything gets mixed in well.

Pour cake batter over sugared rhubarb and bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes, until cake tests done in the middle. Best served warm with milk, cream, or ice cream, but reheats really well in the microwave. Makes 2 (9") square pans.

 

Comments

[AP Man]

that loooks SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD!!!