Maybe you want to put a neglected massive rhubarb plant to good use. Or you bought rhubarb at the farmers market and you have no idea what to do with it. Whatever the case, you need to try this sour rhubarb candy!
It’s sour, it’s chewy, it’s only a couple ingredients and it’s fun to make something delicious from scratch!
Ingredients
This is the most natural candy you will ever eat! Three simple ingredients: rhubarb, sugar, and water!
How to make rhubarb candy
- Harvest or purchase 2 lbs of fresh rhubarb
- Rinse any dirt or debris off rhubarb and trim the ends
- In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water. Heat on low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool while you prepare the rhubarb.
- Next, we want to choose how sour we want our candy. Peel off the skin on each piece of rhubarb. I usually remove 2-3 strips for the perfect sourness. You can remove less, but you still want the brine to get into the fruit, so make sure you remove at least 1 strip.
- Cut rhubarb into 4” sticks
- If you have really thick pieces of rhubarb, cut them lengthwise so they are roughly all the same size in diameter. Sometimes I cut them in half, sometimes even into thirds, if necessary. You don’t want them too thin or they will dry out in the dehydrator and become hard instead of chewy.
- Toss the rhubarb into a shallow dish or a 1-2 gallon bag with the brine. I like to use a 2 gallon bag. Mix or toss the mixture every 30-60 mins. Allow the rhubarb to marinade in the mixture for 2 hours.
- Drain the brine from the rhubarb.
- Place rhubarb sticks onto the dehydrator trays.
- Dehydrate at 140* for 12-15 hours. Around 12 hours, I start checking and removing the smaller pieces. The candy should be dry, slightly sticky to the touch, but still able to bend. If you allow them to completely dry out, you’ll have hard candy instead of chewy.
- Check the dehydrator and remove pieces as necessary from hours 12 to 15.
What else can I make with rhubarb?
- Rhubarb sauce – great for topping ice cream, yogurt, pancakes, etc.
- Rhubarb simple syrup – make mocktails/cocktails, sweeten ice tea or lemonade, top ice cream
- Baked goods – I love freezing 1” cubes to make desserts, muffins, etc all winter
Homemade Sour Rhubarb Candy
Sweet, sour, chewy, delicious way to utilize rhubarb!
Equipment
- dehydrator
Ingredients
- 1.5-2 lbs fresh rhubarb stalks
- 2 c sugar
- 1 c water
Instructions
- Harvest or purchase 1.5-2 lbs of fresh rhubarb.
- Rinse any dirt or debris off rhubarb and trim the ends.
- In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water.
- Heat on low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Peel off the skin on each piece of rhubarb. 2-3 strips is a great place to start for preferred sourness.
- Cut rhubarb into 4” sticks.
- If the rhubarb is think, cut them lengthwise so they are roughly all the same size in diameter. Cut them in half or even thirds, if necessary. (You don’t want them too thin or they will dry out in the dehydrator and become hard instead of chewy.)
- Toss the rhubarb into a large shallow dish or a 1-2 gallon bag with the brine. I like to use a 2 gallon bag. Mix or toss the mixture every 30-60 mins. Allow the rhubarb to marinade in the mixture for 2 hours.
- Drain the brine from the rhubarb.
- Place rhubarb sticks onto the dehydrator trays.
- Dehydrate at 140* for 12-15 hours. See note*
Notes
- Around 12 hours, I start checking and removing the thinner pieces. The candy should be dry, slightly sticky to the touch, but still able to bend. If you allow them to completely dry out, you’ll have hard candy instead of chewy.
- Check the dehydrator and remove pieces as necessary from hours 12 to 15.
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