Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves

Spring is such a welcomed time of year!  Weather warms up, moods lift, and berries begin to appear!  The arrival of fresh, cool foods and summer dresses are just around the corner.  With summer coming soon, it is getting to be time to preserve some of that springtime goodness.  Jams and preserves keep the delicious spring fruits on our plates and in our memories long after the season has passed.  In my opinion, strawberries and rhubarb are some of the best things to have leftover from the springtime season. 

Last weekend, I went to a good friend's house for brunch. It was such a delight! We sat outside in the morning sun catching up on life then prepared a morning feast.  We dined on basil, parsley omelet with sharp cheddar as well as gluten free cinnamon raisin pecan bread, Greek yogurt, oranges, and this strawberry rhubarb preserve I had made that morning.  Let me tell you, this preserve complimented everything on our plates so well!  I would especially recommend combining it with yogurt.

A couple of weeks ago, I made rhubarb jam which was so delicious that it didn't last very long at all, so when I was planning this recipe, I decided to be slightly more ambitious and make more than just a half cup...especially since I would be sharing it with friends this time!  In retrospect, making jam in the oven is much simpler than on the stove top which requires constant monitoring, but let me assure you that the result of all the work to make this strawberry rhubarb preserve is fantastic!  

Some notes about this recipe:  Because this recipe does not use gelatin or pectin, this preserve is quite smooth like a fruit butter rather than a jelly or jam.  Also, I do not cover the canning process in this post so the shelf life will be shorter.  If you do wish for a longer shelf life, please reference other sites that provide methods for canning.   Finally, plan ahead!  Time your schedule so that the fruit can macerate for at least eight hours before you can cook it into preserves.

Strawberry Rhubarb Preserves

2 pints strawberries

1 lb rhubarb

zest & juice of 1 lemon

2/3 cup brown sugar, divided
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Hull and quarter strawberries.  Chop rhubarb into small chunks.

2. Toss strawberries, rhubarb, and 1/3 cup sugar in a large bowl.  Zest and juice lemon into the mixture. Stir well.  Now, let it sit on your counter (room temperature) for eight hours to allow the strawberries and rhubarb to macerate.  Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel to prevent things from landing in it.  If you're around, stir every once in a while.

3. Transfer fruit to a colander and drain juice into a large, wide bottom pot. Set the fruit aside. Heat the juice to simmering then add another 1/3 cup sugar.  Keep cooking at a lively boil and stir constantly until the sugar has dissolved and juice begins to thicken and look syrupy.

4. Add a little more than half of the fruit to the boiling syrup. Bring back to a boil and cook vigorously, stirring, until fruit is broken down and scraping a spoon across the bottom of the pan will leave a stripe of bare pan that fills in slowly.  Lower the heat if the preserves begin to scorch.

NOTE: Because there is less sugar in this recipe than the standard, it is important to be sure that the fruit mixture is quite thick before adding the rest...especially if desire pieces of fruit in the final product. 

5. Add cinnamon and the remaining fruit. Bring back to a boil and cook, stirring constantly, until fruit softens but does not disintegrate.  If you want it to be more constant texture through out, then cook for longer until the fruit softens to your liking. Taste and adjust sugar if necessary. Stop cooking when a spoon dragged across the bottom of the pot leaves a clean stripe and the suspended fruit has a texture that you like. 

6. Remove pot from heat.  Let preserves cool to room temperature prior to storage.  It you cannot resist sampling while it's cooling, this preserve is delicious to sample on toast, rice cakes, and yogurt!

Again, please note that I did not cover the canning process, so if you do wish for a long shelf life for this preserve, please reference other sites that provide methods for canning.

Rhubarb Jam



Mamma's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb,
Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.
Mamma's little baby loves rhubarb, rhubarb,
Beebopareebop Rhubarb Pie.

If any of you listen Prairie Home Companion, then you know exactly what I'm singing about!  I just kept humming this little melody while chopping the beautifully pink vegetable.  Admittedly though, I'm not making rhubarb pie, but jam is just as delicious!  And boy, for a rainy day, I can't think of a better way to warm up the kitchen than with a sweet, cinnamon smell of roasting rhubarb!

So, to lay it all out, I had never made jam before this moment.  But let me tell you it was so quick and easy that I'll probably start making jam much more!  It is just so delightful to spread warm jam on some morning oatmeal, crackers, or my personal fave: chocolate chip cookies!


Rhubarb Jam

1 pound rhubarb, tough ends removed & cut into large chunks
1/4 cup brown sugar
scant 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Remove tough ends of the rhubarb and chop the stalks into chunks.

2. Toss rhubarb with brown sugar and cinnamon in a nonstick baking dish. Roast for 20 minutes until thick and bubbly. Keep an eye on it since this is a sugary dish thus it can burn easily.  (Even if it does burn, the jam is not ruined, just don't scape the burnt bits off the bottom.)

3. Remove the sweet rhubarb from the oven and scrape contents into a small mixing bowl.  Mix the pink goodness well, then let cool completely. Transfer to jar that can be sealed tightly. 

Since this recipe does not go through the process of sterilizing jars for sealing, this jam recipe can store in the frige for up to two weeks...if it lasts that long!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

An evening of celebration!  One of my close friends just graduated!  So of course it is important to take time to celebrate such an accomplishment.  The party was a 1920s themed so I started cruising the Internet for party recipes from that decade.  When I realized that my options were dishes like "Nuts and Date Salad Mayonnaise" or "Jellied Tomato and Pimiento Salad with Olives and Celery Hearts," I decided that perhaps a throw back dish would not be quite the hit I was looking for.  Also, as a side note, did you know that all of the following foods were introduced in the 1920s?

Eskimo Pies, Baby Ruth, Wonder Bread, Betty Crocker, Land O'Lakes, White Castle, Quaker Oats quick oats, Girl Scout Cookies, Gummi Bears, Mounds, Welch's grape jelly, Popsicles, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Yoo-Hoo, Caesar Salad, Wheaties, Graham Crackers, Mr. Goodbar, Safeway, Milk Duds, Gerber's baby food, Pez, Kool-Aid, Rice Krispies, Velveeta cheese, Peter Pan Peanut butter, Oscar Meyer wieners, Snickers, Twizzlers, 7-Up

Some pretty prominent foods and institutions came into being during the 20s!  But today, many of these packaged, prepared foods are not quite the delicacies they used to be, so I just decided to fall back on my personal favorite:  Chocolate!


I am so pleased that I got to do a party cake especially since it usually takes the excuse of a special occasion to make a cake rather than just choosing to eat one all by yourself!  This is the first time I made the following recipe.  It has been modified from various different sources and it turned out so well that I want to make this cake over and over again!  It has that moinst, dark-chocolate richness that melts in your mouth.  Plus, it is so simple that it does not take more than an hour of active cooking time.  Thus, twice as fabulous!


Flourless Chocolate Cake


5 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbs vanilla extract (esspresso is a great substitute for vanilla!)
4 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

powder sugar and fresh fruit for decoration


1. Preheat oven to 375°F.   Butter a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with a cut out round of parchment paper.

2. Bring water to a slight simmer in the bottom part of a double boiler.  While the water is heating up, chop up the butter and 5oz of your favorite dark chocolate into small pieces and put them in the top part of the double boiler.  Melt chocolate with butter, stirring, until soupy and smooth.  (No stress if you don't have a double boiler, I don't either, so I used a pot and then put the chocolate and butter in a smaller sauce pan with a long handle.)

3. Remove top of double boiler from heat and whisk sugar into chocolate mixture until the sugar is well incorporated.  Let the mixture stand for five minutes to cool.  (you don't want to cook the eggs in the next step!)

4. While the chocolate is cooling off, break four eggs into a medium mixing bowl and whisk well.  Add the sweet chocolaty goodness to the eggs and whip briskly until everything is incorporated.

5. Sift 1/2 cup good quality cocoa powder over chocolate mixture and whisk until just combined.

6. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 22 minutes, or until top has formed a thin crust.  Test by poking a fork in the center; if the fork comes out clean, the cake is done!  Cool cake in the pan for about 5 minutes then invert it onto a serving plate and remove parchment paper.  (While it is cooling, this is a great opportunity to wash and prep the fruit you will decorate the cake with).

7. Let cake cool completely before you dust cake with powdered sugar.  Finally, top it with fruit. 

Voila!  You're done!  If by chance there is cake left after the party, it will keep for quite a while in the fridge or freezer.  So def keep it around for future leftovers snacking!



The cake at the party



Mothers Know Best: Chocolate Chunk Cookies

You ever have those days where you are just craving something chocolaty and sweet.  Today is one of those days and I have had chocolate chip cookies on the mind for at least a week now.  Currently, my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe comes from E's mom.  She brought them over for a birthday celebration and I ended up eating most of them!  So below is my first attempt at making this recipe gluten free.

Growing up, there were not many gluten free baking books in the house, my mom just kept her homemade gluten free flour mix on hand.  I definitely recommend this recipe since it does not have a strange grit or funny after taste that many gluten free flour mixes have.  It seems to work almost as well as regular flour and can be a substitute at a one to one ratio. That easy.

My mom's all purpose gluten free flour mix and E's mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe.  How is it that mothers know best?

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

6 ounces of your favorite chocolate chips (I like chopping mine off a dark chocolate block for chunkier pieces!)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cup unsifted all purpose gluten free flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum, (only if your gluten free flour does not already have an emulsifier)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional >> I'm a chocolate purist so I rarely go for the nuts)


- Pre-heat oven to 375ºF.
- In a small-ish bowl, stir gluten free flour with baking soda and salt; set aside.

- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with both brown and white sugars until creamy and lightened in color.

- Add egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated.

- Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture then stir in nuts and chocolate chips.

- Drop tablespoon sized balls of dough onto an un-greased cookie sheet.  Make sure they're spread out enough so that there's room for them to expand!

- Bake until golden brown (approx. 9 to 11 minutes)
- Try to let them cool without bouncing them around in your hand in attempt to gobble them down immediately after coming out of the oven...though I have to admit, a couple of taste buds are usually sacrificed in the name of a fresh hot cookie!