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 likely 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 the rhubarb and trim the ends.
- In a medium saucepan combine the sugar and water. Heat on low and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool while you prepare the rhubarb.
- Next, peel off some of the skin on each piece of rhubarb. I usually remove 2-3 strips for the perfect tartness. 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 the 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 or 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 the 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 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 the rhubarb into 4” sticks.
- If the rhubarb is thick, 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 or 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 at least 2 hours.
- Drain the brine from the rhubarb.
- Place the 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.
These are so good !!! I let the rhubarb sit in the brine for 15hrs cause I got distracted. My question is recommended storage and can you reuse the brine to make more ?
I store my dried sticks in glass jars and they last at least 12 months. I’ve never resued the brine, but I don’t see why you couldn’t! As long as its still sweet I would imagine it would work!
I don’t have a dehydrator. Can you use the oven on low temperature?
How long and what temperature? Thanks