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Rhubarb Orange Butter | © Life Through the Kitchen Window.com

Rhubarb Orange Butter

Don’t be fooled by the term "butter." This isn't a dairy product. Instead, "butter" refers to the consistency resulting when a fruit puree is slow-cooked to significantly reduce the liquid. Not only does the method result in a buttery texture, but flavour and colour also intensify. I used Meghan Telpher’s method of pureeing the fruit prior to cooking it down, and was happy with the result, although there are few different ways to go about this. Note, I was able to find a beautiful red-skinned rhubarb, which enhances the colour of the rhubarb butter.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 1 +1/2 cups
Author © Marlene Cornelis/Urban Cottage Life.com 2015–2020

Ingredients

  • 1 lb rhubarb (3 cups, chopped about 1/2″ thick)
  • 1 orange, supremed (i.e., sectioned, with as much of the pith and membrane between sections removed as possible — you can find how-to guides out there on the internet)
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or vanilla extract (I like the contrast of the dark flecks of vanilla bean in the paste)
  • pinch of kosher salt

How To Make This Recipe

  1. Place the orange segments (and any juice squeezed from the membranes) and the chopped rhubarb into a blender and puree until smooth. Working with fruits isn’t an exact science in terms of measurements, but I ended up with about 3 cups of puree and it was surprisingly liquid.

  2. Pour the puree into a heavy medium saucepan. Stir in the honey, vanilla bean paste and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn the heat to a simmer. I didn’t use the lowest setting on my stove; rather, had it slightly above a simmer to effect a gentle bubbling. (Just to be clear, don’t put a lid on the pot, as the idea is to evaporate the juices. I used a splatter screen just to be on the safe side, to avoid having a mess to clean up.)

  3. Stir every 5 minutes or so, until the butter has reduced to the point where it’s thick, the bubbles are sticky looking and the colour has intensified. I cooked mine for 45 minutes. A couple of times when I let it go a little longer between stirs it felt a bit sticky on the bottom of the pan, but it didn’t burn. Still, it’s best to keep a careful eye on it as the sugars in the fruit and honey could easily burn. I stayed in the kitchen during this time to avoid forgetting to check on it.
  4. The original puree reduced by half, to 1-1/2 cups. The butter was thick and still a bit juicy, but suitable for spreading on toast. The next time I make this I just may let it simmer a full hour and see what the difference is.
  5. I decanted the final product evenly into two small mason jars that I had sterilized with boiling water. Because I’ll be using the rhubarb butter up in the next week or two I just stored them in the fridge, but for longer storage you can preserve it through canning. I read somewhere that you can also freeze fruit butters, although I haven’t tried that yet.