Baked Rhubarb

For an easy, ultra-springy dessert, try Martha’s delicious recipe for baked rhubarb. The vegetable’s tartness is tamed by a generous amount of sugar, vanilla, and butter, which meld with the rhubarb as it bakes and softens. In the last five minutes of cooking, you’ll add a drizzle of heavy cream, giving the dish silky richness. Martha likes to serve spoonfuls of the baked rhubarb with a dollop of tangy creme fraiche, but you could also serve it with ice cream, yogurt, or whipped cream. Easy and mostly hands-off, this sweet-tart dessert is one of the best ways to enjoy fresh rhubarb when it’s in season.

The 5 Ingredients You Need

Rhubarb: You'll need roughly two pounds of rhubarb to yield eight cups' worth when chopped. When shopping, look for stalks that are firm and look shiny. Rhubarb will have a similar flavor whether it's green, pink, or red.

Sugar: Most rhubarb recipes call for a generous amount of sugar to tame the vegetable's intense tartness. Here, we use three-quarters of a cup. Most of it is tossed with the rhubarb and left to macerate (or draw out moisture), while the rest is sprinkled over top before baking.

Butter: Martha loves how rhubarb and butter complement one another, and we couldn't agree more. Here, it helps thicken and enrich the juices as the dessert bakes. Cutting it into small pieces first ensures it melts evenly throughout.

Heavy cream: For an extra dose of silky richness, drizzle a bit of cream over the rhubarb in the last 5 minutes of baking. Be sure to use heavy cream, not light cream or half-and-half, to prevent curdling.

Vanilla extract: It's always worth using the best-quality vanilla extract you can find; it will give your desserts a superior flavor. Vanilla bean paste, which has become widely available in recent years, can be used interchangeably with equally good results.

Vanilla Extract vs. Vanilla Sugar

In her original recipe, Martha used vanilla sugar—an aromatic blend of scraped vanilla beans and sugar—but we've opted to call for vanilla extract instead, as it's more convenient and affordable.

If you'd like to make vanilla sugar, however, simply combine 2 cups of granulated sugar and the scraped seeds of one vanilla bean pod in a food processor. Pulse several times until the beans are well distributed throughout the sugar, then transfer to an airtight container. (Tuck the scraped pod in the container as well for even more flavor.)

You'll only need 3/4 cup of vanilla sugar for this recipe, but you can use the rest to flavor whipped cream, incorporate into baked goods or coffee drinks, or sprinkle over buttered toast.

The Right Baking Dish for This Recipe

Reach for a large, shallow baking dish for this dessert. A wide enough vessel—ideally 10 to 11 inches from edge to edge—will keep the rhubarb from being piled up too high; shallow sides, meanwhile, expose as much of the mixture to the heat as possible for delicious caramelization.