I don't like to let spring pass without cooking at least one rhubarb recipe. This practice is motivated more by a fear of missing out than my love for the product. Yes, farm-fresh berries and stone fruit are just around the corner, but I can pick up out-of-season strawberries from the supermarket any time of year. Rhubarb is only available for a brief window here in the Northeast, and after a colorless winter at the farmer’s market, getting my hands on the first pop of color I see feels life-or-death.
But unlike a peach or a carton of berries, rhubarb isn’t built for casual snacking. The tart, stringy stalks beg to be sweetened and softened, which is why they’re commonly used in baked goods like crisps and tarts. Normally I’m eager to bake with fresh produce for the first time in months, but that wasn’t the case this year. After a hectic few weeks of travel, I’ve been struggling to find the energy to go grocery shopping, let alone break out the stand mixer.
That’s the thing about rhubarb season: it requires a high investment to partake, both when you’re tracking it down and turning it into something edible. Despite my lack of motivation to bake, I wasn’t ready to skip the spring treat this year. If you also suffer from seasonal produce FOMO but are feeling burnt-out in the kitchen, this rhubarb drink may be the solution.
This Pink Rhubarb Refresher is one of a handful of recipes listed in the beverage section of Betty Crocker’s Picture Cookbook. Though it does ask you to turn on the stovetop, it requires much less time and materials than baking a pie from scratch. The original recipe serves 24 people, but if you’re not hosting a party, you can easily reduce it to serve two to four. There were only a couple of rhubarb talks left at the farmer market when I went this weekend, and I was still able to make myself a full glass and have plenty left over.
The only steps that require actual effort involve chopping the rhubarb, boiling it, and pressing the mush through a fine-mesh sieve. The instructions don’t specify how long you should cook the vegetable, but it took me about five minutes to get it to the right consistency.
The recipe was originally published in 1950, and the most dated thing about it is the amount of sugar it calls for. One-third cup of sugar for every cup rhubarb juice sounds like a lot to me—especially after mixing it with soda. I ended up adding a little less than a quarter cup of sugar to my cup of juice, and the final product tasted plenty sweet.
Beyond that, the recipe holds up well. So many rhubarb dishes pair it with sweet products like strawberries, and I love the idea of incorporating bitterness and spice with the grapefruit and ginger ale. I almost expected it to be too tart with these ingredients, but it’s perfectly refreshing. Best served on a porch (or fire escape, in my case) the moment it breaks 65 degrees.
Pink Rhubarb Refresher
Serves 24
Cook to a mush in 5 cups boiling water 2 lb. tender pink rhubarb (cut, but not peeled). Press through sieve. Measure juice. For each cup, add 1/3 cup sugar. Stir until dissolved. Chill. For each cup rhubarb juice, add 1/2 cup grapefruit juice. Add 1/4 cup lemon juice to entire mixture. Just before serving, add 1 qt. ginger ale.
I picked up some rhubarb from the farmers market this morning to try this!
I will be trying this!