Rhubarb is such a special ingredient. It lets us know that winter is officially over and warm weather is right around the corner. For pastry chefs it is the first produce after a fruit dry spell. Sure, citrus is still around but other than that it’s slim pickings.

If you made my apple-cranberry crumble then you already know how easy crisps and crumbles are to make. This is even easier than the apple crumble because you don’t need to pre-cook the fruit. Just cut it up, mix with the other ingredients, cover with the streusel and bake. Super quick and easy!

You can find rhubarb at farmers markets and sometimes even in whole foods. It is tart and crisp but softens when cooked. It looks a bit intimidating if you have never cooked or eaten rhubarb but this recipe will be your gateway drug into the world of rhubarb. Next thing you know you will be anxiously waiting for rhubarb season and making pie and ice cream! At the beginning of the season they are a beautiful with both a pink flesh and skin. Later in the season they remain pink on the outside but the flesh tends to turn green. It still tastes delicious, just looks a little different.

Rhubarb Mix:

8 cups Rhubarb chopped (5-6 short stalks)
1 cup Sugar (or vanilla sugar)
3 TBSP Cornstarch
1/4 tsp Powdered Cinnamon
2 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest
2 tsp Fresh Orange Zest
1 tsp Fresh Lime Zest
1/2 tsp Fresh Grated Ginger
1/4 tsp Grated Nutmeg

Directions:

1) Chop rhubarb into 1/4 inch thick slices and reserve
2) In a separate bowl combine all the other ingredients. Toss with rhubarb and allow to sit 15-30 minutes until rhubarb begins to release liquid. During this time prepare the Brown Sugar Streusel and pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F
3) Re-toss the rhubarb and place in a 9×12″ baking pan. The rhubarb should mound above the top as it will cook down significantly.
4) Top liberally with the Streusel and bake 30-45 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. I recommend putting a cookie sheet under the crisp to catch anything that might drip over the sides. (Cooking if fun, cleaning up is not!) Pierce with a knife in the center to make sure the rhubarb is soft and fully cooked.
5)Serve warm with ice cream (I like ginger best!)

Brown Sugar-Oatmeal Streusel:

1 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 Cups Quick Cook Rolled Oats
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
2 TBSP Cup Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon
4 ounces Butter, chilled and cubed (1 stick)

Directions:

1) Mix together flour, sugars, spices and oats.
2) Using a mixer with a paddle attachment or your hands work the butter into the flour mix until it resembles sand. Do not over mix. Store in the refrigerator up to one week until needed. Great on crumbles, crisps and as a muffin topping. If you have any extra you can bake it off on a cookie tray until golden and use as an ice cream sundae topping.

Besides these crumbles I make lots of other things with rhubarb. Upside down cake, sorbet, muffins, sundae toppings. I’ve even been known to juice them and use the juice in a cocktail with gin, lime and club soda. I’m getting thirsty just thinking about it.

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Easter has come and gone which is an emotional roller coaster for peep lovers! I have friends that are OBSESSED with peeps and eagerly await their appearance on grocery store shelves every year. They consume as many as they can until they are no longer available. I even have a few friends that buy about 50 boxes and snack on them for the rest of the year. The only problem is they get stale pretty darn quick.

Well, fear no more lovers of Peep! At the request of a friend, here is a recipe that is not only easy but will satisfy your need for a peep fix year round. Who knows, next year you may even skip the store bought peeps all together. If you’ve already made my Green Tea Marshmallows then this recipe will be a piece of cake. Same technique, just slightly different recipe.

Necessary Tools

Kitchen Aid mixer with a whisk attachment
Candy thermometer
Piping Bags (2 should do the trick)
#10, 11 or 12 Piping Tip
#1 or #2 Piping Tip
Rubber Spatula or Bowl Scraper

Recipe
Yields 24-50 peeps depending on how large or small you prefer to pipe

5 tsp powdered gelatin
2/3 cup cold water
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp lemon extracts (or flavor of your choice)
2 4 ounce bottles each of each color of sanding sugar you want to use. (Don’t worry, there will be a lot left for next year!)
4 ounces melting chocolate

Directions

1) Before you begin mixing anything make sure you gather all the tools you’ll need. Once marshmallows are finished they begin to set so you don’t want to be scrambling to get the tips in your piping bags. Place half your sanding sugar on a cookie tray or large plate. Marshmallows are very sticky and you will be piping the peeps directly onto the sanding sugar then sprinkling with more to coat. If you are using more than one color of sanding sugar you can use several large plates, each covered with half the sugar, reserving the other half.

2) Place 2/3 cup water in the bowl of a mixer. Sprinkle with the powdered gelatin, trying to cover the surface evenly. Allow to sit and bloom/soften while you prepare your sugar syrup.

3) Place the remaining 1/2 cup water and sugar in a pot and stir to combine. Use a wet paper towel, hand or pastry brush and wipe any granules of sugar from the sides of the pot. This will help to ensure that your sugar doesn’t crystalize.

4) Place the pot over a medium high heat. Using your candy thermometer cook to Soft Ball (238 Degrees F)

4) When the sugar gets close to 238 degrees turn on your mixer, fitted with a whip attachment, to a low speed to start mixing the water and gelatin. Once the sugar is ready, increase the speed to medium-high and slowly pour the sugar mixture down the side of the bowl. Once it is fully incorporated, add the lemon extract and allow to whip about 5-7 minutes until white, fluffy and cooled.

5) Now we need to move quickly because our marshmallow mix is ready to go. Grab your piping bags, already fitted with the #10, 11 or 12 piping tips, and a rubber spatula or bowl scraper and fill each bag with some of the mixture. If you can’t fit it all in the bags then cover the remaining mix with a damp towel.

6) Now we pipe! You can really dictate the size of your peeps and make them as big or small as you want. For classic size peeps pipe a mound of marshmallow with the circumference of a silver dollar. Pipe a smaller mound, about the circumference of a quarter on top. When you are done piping stop applying pressure and quickly pull the piping bag/tip toward you to create a little “beak.” If it looks a little crazy don’t fret! The sanding sugar and eyes will help them look a lot more like peeps. Plus, practice makes perfect! Continue piping until all the marshmallow is gone. Leave about 1″ of space between each peep so you have room to coat with sugar and so they don’t stick together.

7) Take the remaining amount of each color of sanding sugar and sprinkle the peeps with it. Once they are mostly coated you can pick them up carefully and toss in the sugar they are sitting on. They will be soft and fluffy so handle with care.

8) Now for the eyes. We use royal icing when we make peeps at Buzz Bakery but you can use melting chocolate. It’s a lot faster! Warm the meting chocolate as instructed on the package. Put into the piping bag fitted with the #1 or 2 piping tip and pipe two little eyes on each peep.

9) Your peeps are now ready to eat (they are amazing fresh!) or store in a container with a tight fitting lid until you get a craving for some peeps. They will last about 5 days in a sealed container. And pack up all that sanding sugar and keep it for next time you make peeps!

As you can see from my pictures below, some are instructional and some are just us being goofy around the bakery. When you see how cute your peeps are you may be inclined to take wacky pictures of them too. At least I warned you…

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It’s the 100 year anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC and I thought it would be fun to share an american classic with an asian twist: Green Tea Marshmallows.

The beauty of marshmallow is they are impressive, fairly easy to make and have a great shelf life if you wrap them up tight!  We make several flavors of marshmallows at Buzz Bakery (as Metrocurean will tell you), but we have never made green tea until now.  The difficult thing about marshmallows is that changing the density or acidity of the liquid base can effect the fluff factor, so each time we try a new flavor we cross also our fingers.  Luckily, we are usually able to adjust the ratios of liquid (purees, alcohol, juices) to water and end up with a beautiful, pillowy marshmallow.

Tools

Kitchen aid with a whisk attachment
Offset spatula
Cookie sheet or brownie pan (if you want the marshmallows thinner or thicker respectively)
Pam non-stick spray
Candy thermometer
Rubber spatula

Green Tea Marshmallow Recipe

2 cups water, divided
2 bags green tea
1 ounce powdered gelatin
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp green tea powder (or matcha)
10 X (powdered sugar) as needed

Directions

1) Bring 1  1/4 cup water to a simmer.  Remove from heat and add the tea bags.  Allow to steep 30 minutes as the water cools.

2) Place cooled tea water in the bowl of a Kitchen Aid mixer, fitted with a whisk attachment and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Allow to sit 5 minutes then start whisking on a very low speed until smooth.

3) In a pot over medium-high heat bring the remaining 3/4 cup water, 3 cups sugar, corn syrup and salt to soft boil (240 degrees F on a candy thermometer). If you don’t have a candy thermometer you can scoop a little of the boiling syrup out and plunge into ice water. When the sugar holds it’s shape as a malleable ball you have reached soft ball. Change the the Kitchen Aid to a medium-high speed and slowly pour the cooked sugar down the side of the bowl into the tea and gelatin mix.  Be careful not to hit the whisk as it turns or sugar will splatter onto the sides of the bowl.  This can create little chunks of hard sugar in your marshmallows.  Yuck.

4) Stop the mixer for just a second and add the matcha powder.  Return to high speed and allow to whisk until it’s white and thick. While this is happening, prepare either a cookie sheet or a brownie pan by spraying the pan well with non stick cooking spray

5) Working quickly, remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape the marshmallows onto your prepared pan.  Spray the offset spatula with non-stick cooking spray and use to spread the meringue as evenly as possible over the pan.

6) Allow to set overnight at room temperature, unwrapped.  The next day dust a cutting board with powdered sugar.  Flip the marshmallows onto the board and cut using a knife or cookie cutter.  A tip for easy cutting is to dip the knife or cutter into warm water between cuts. Toss the cut pieces of marshmallow into more powdered sugar, being sure to coat all the sides.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to one week.

We made these marshmallows at Buzz Bakery for the first time last week as part of a gift box that also included: red tea-cherry macarons, sesame wafers and cherry-almond jewels. They turned out great and I just had to share the recipe. Enjoy!

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