Rhubarb Raspberry Betty

I came back from New York with a burning urge to read. I haven't read much past my weekly New Yorker since moving to Berlin and without realizing it, had started to feel a little bereft. This bookworm needs her friends! Her crisp hardcovers and soft-edged paperbacks with dogeared pages. Right now I'm elbow-deep in Kim Severson's Spoon Fed and enjoying it immensely. It's the kind of book I'd like to plow through in one fell swoop and the only reason I haven't done that yet is I'm trying to make it last.

Like many recent books about food culture in America, there is a bit in the book about Marion Cunningham, she of the yeasted waffles, James Beard's bosom buddy, reviser extraordinaire of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Reading about Marion always makes me want to hustle into the kitchen in two seconds flat and get busy making spoon bread and one-bowl chocolate cakes.

You know what is so cozy? Lying in bed (in my bedroom under the eaves of the roof), listening to a gentle rain, reading about Marion Cunningham, then getting up, padding down the hallway to the living room where I can pull out Fannie Farmer from the bookcase, get back into bed, and curl up with two good books at once. Really, it's the only way to spend a rainy morning.

Anyway, along with the big, fat, white spears of asparagus from the regions near Berlin currently flooding the farmer's markets and bewitching me in all their odd, white, mandrake-root-like beauty, rosy rhubarb is the other thing I can't seem to get enough of. Every time I pass a pile of those red stalks, my body is sort of propelled over to them and I find myself buying a kilo or two, even if I've already got plenty at home as it is. I can't resist the rhubarb. Can you?

My latest clutch of stalks had been hanging out on my kitchen counter for the past day or two while I dithered back and forth on how to cook them. Roasted with white wine and vanilla bean? Chunked and marmaladed with grapefruit peel or ginger? Turned into a sort of crisp-crumble with spelt flour streusel? (More on that spelt flour business soon.) But then I found myself in bed with Marion Cunningham and Fannie Farmer, reading about rhubarb Betty, and that's when all other plans shot straight out the window.

In the pantheon of homey American desserts, I've known crumbles, grunt, slumps and pandowdies. I've done crisps and buckles, too. But the Betty always remained just out of sight. I never knew quite what to expect from a Betty. It was too abstract, the name made even less sense than the other ones, and besides, I was too busy mastering baked dumplings and crumble toppings to really pay attention.

But. Oh, but.

I should have known that something as humble-sounding as a fruit Betty would win my heart.

Betties are, to be precise, the most austere of those homey desserts. The plainest, the strictest, if you will. Simply fruit and sugar topped with butter-soaked bread cubes. That's it. No batter, no streusel, no dumplings. Like deconstructed summer puddings. But more Puritan and with a bit more crunch.

Now, a Betty won't appeal to everyone. What I find so wonderful about its stripped-down, bare-naked self won't necessarily be your cup of tea. Perhaps you need a yielding cake or a spice-scented topping to make you happy. But if you, like me, are always on the hunt for fruit desserts that can be whipped up in the flash of an eye, don't sit like a lead brick in your belly and can do double-time as breakfast the next day, provided you have some plain yogurt lying around just waiting to be dolloped, then consider yourself in business.

Marion's original recipe has you stew a couple pounds of rhubarb with sugar and water on the stove before baking it with homemade breadcrumbs. When it's done, you serve it alongside sliced strawberries and whipped cream. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Indeed. The thing is, I'm a little tired of the strawberry-rhubarb combination. In fact, I think we should give it a rest for a bit, along with goat cheese and beet salads. Yes? Doesn't that sound like a good idea?

So I bought a box of frozen raspberries instead. And while I was at it, decided not to stew the rhubarb since that would make it fall apart and go a little pallid. I tossed the rhubarb with the raspberries and sugar (not as much as Marion first called for), then baked it in the oven for a few minutes while I prepared the bread.

Oh right, and instead of making breadcrumbs, I cubed several slices of plain white bread, then tossed those cubes with melted butter. Less butter than originally called for! I'm such a rebel, on all fronts. Look at me, having my way with this recipe! (I miss my food processor.)

I pulled the fruit from the oven after five minutes or so, topped the fruit with the cubed bread and put it back in the oven to brown and crisp and bubble.

Baking the fruit instead of stewing it allows it to keep its shape and its lustrous color. The raspberries looked like fat jewels among the chunks of rhubarb. The bread cubes, toasted and crunchy and rich, were textural marvels against the silky fruit. There was a good amount of syrupy juice at the bottom of the pan, which you'll want to spoon over each serving, soaking the bread crumbs a little, mixing in with whatever cream or yogurt you decide to dollop on top.

It's rather crucial, that final dairy dollop. Without it to smooth out the rough edges of the fruit, a Betty could be a little harsh, a little unrefined. But with the sweetness of cream or the sour slap of yogurt, the Betty turns into a delightful little dish, bound to cause polite giggles over the name to turn into rather greedy demands for second helpings and more.

This week, I keep thinking about inspiration and how crucial it is for our well-being. Inspiration keeps us moving forward and energized, connected with the world around us. I'd been feeling a little lonely and lost before I went to New York. I'd look at my recipes and my books each day and couldn't seem to wrap my head around them. Then I'd stare at the blank page in my computer, trying to write a blog post or a chapter, and it was like my head was filled with cotton wool, or worse, nothing.

Today, as I eat my leftover Betty for breakfast, and feel like I'm bubbling over with ideas and plans for the next few months, I have to thank Marion Cunningham for the inspiration for the recipe, Kim Severson for reminding me to look at that Fannie Farmer cookbook again, and my friend and agent Brettne for nudging me to read a little more. One thing leads to another and another and before you know it, you're writing an ode to Betties and feeling like everything is possible again. Life is pretty wonderful that way.

Rhubarb-Raspberry Betty
Serves 6

1.5 pounds trimmed rhubarb stalks, in 1-inch pieces
1/2 pound frozen or fresh raspberries
1/8 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 cups cubed white bread (5 to 6 slices)
5 tablespoons butter, melted
For serving, plain yogurt, sour cream, or cream, whipped or to pour

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C.). Toss the rhubarb and raspberries with the sugar. Pile into an 8-inch square baking dish. Bake in the hot oven for 5 minutes.

2. While the fruit is baking, toss the cubed bread with the melted butter. Remove the dish from the oven, evenly scatter the buttered bread cubes over the fruit and place back in the oven for 30 minutes.

3. Let the betty cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream or a jug of pouring cream or even whipped cream.

Comments

[Francesca]

This looks wonderful Luisa! It's starting to get chilly here in Sydney (not compared with Berlin, but still) - I think this is just what I've been looking for to make my mornings that little bit toastier. Thanks!

Ps - I've made your zucchini pancakes three times now - they're so good - I think I'm addicted!

[the lacquer spoon]

Very.. very interesting pud with the lovely croutons. It makes me feel summer upon us soon :)

[Mark @ Cafe Campana]

I love how rhubarb goes such a deep red colour. This looks like a great warming dessert.

[Vanessa]

I'm so glad your trip to New York inspired you. Sometimes you simply need a change to find your direction again. I'd never heard of a fruit Betty and even if my natural inclination would be for streusel, you've still won my heart with this recipe. Actually, I'm much more into raspberries than strawberries so your combination appeals to me. As for reading, I'm ploughing my way through a lot of work related stuff at the moment but it's so nice to plunge into a novel or a fat biography in the U-Bahn. Somehow if I can't read, I don't feel right.

[Victoria]

Luisa,

This - and your last post - are wonderful. You sound settled and happy - a rather perfect combination. The final picture in your last post took my breath away. Sometimes it takes a trip to make the place you come back to really feel like "home."

I've never had a chance to get sick of the rhubarb/strawberry combination because when my rhubarb comes up in the country, the local strawberries are two months behind. When I get there next weekend (I have to spend this weekend in the City entertaining friends from Atlanta), the rhubarb will be ready in all its glory, and this Betty will be Saturday night's dessert.

Marion Cunningham's first revision of FF is my go-to basic cookbook. My copy is dog-eared, and the copy I inherited from my mother is literally falling apart.

I just finished Spoon Fed - reading it like you, straight through. I was surprised that KS feels the Raised Waffles need to be made in a regular, not Belgian, waffle maker. My new regular waffle iron arrived yesterday and is waiting until Sunday to be broken in.

Good luck with your writing.

[Jennifer Jo]

I just posted about the white wine-vanilla bean roasted rhubarb---it's excellent with cornbread and vanilla ice cream. And I LOVE the red raspberry-rhubarb combination. I make it in a pie and it's always a smashing hit. Much better than rhubarb-strawberry, I think. On my agenda for Some Day Soon is a sour cherry-rhubarb crisp. Perhaps it will morph into a Betty...

[maggie]

Two books at once! The best!

[Katrina]

I've never heard of a "Betty" before. This recipe is awesome!

[Andrea]

Oh, I can totally relate to feeling bereft of inspiration and words. I mostly just pack it in and don't write for a while when that happens. But I don't have a book on the horizon either!

So I'm glad you've found that inspiration again and hope that it keeps coming.
Happy spring.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1047505248]

fruit crisps are a favorite--now to add betty to the list! i get tired more of the texture of baked strawberries than the taste. am looking forward to seeing how raspberries hold up--after a carrot cake for mother's day.

[Heather]

i've never made a betty before. i did make the blueberry buckle you posted last year and loved it!

i do have to disagree about the strawberry rhubarb thing, but that's only because i haven't gotten my hands on any rhubarb yet, and i have only made the strawberry-rhubarb combo once, so it's not old to me! matter of fact, i can't wait to make a pie, and some preserves :). raspberries are nice too though!

[The French @ crispytarts]

Wow. Yum. I have to admit that at first I wasn't sold, but then I saw that dollop of cream at the end and I was like, "Table for one, please."

[Paula]

amazing and so simply recipe!

[Megan Schwartz]

Enjoying your writing and recipes! I am an American in Britain missing my kitchen, which is in a storage unit near Philly. Having spent last year in northwest Germany, my heart yearns for the Wochenmarkt and Hausbrot (and abundant Rhabarber). ~This recipe looks like a breakfast begging to happen. The baked rhubarb is a good idea too. Thanks.

[anna]

Mmmm, rhubarb. I'm really getting into rhubarb this year! I've also been going out of the way to avoid strawberry-rhubarb, instead choosing plain rhubarb for the most part.

[Dawn (KitchenTravels)]

I have a confession to make. Not only have I never made a Betty... I've never, not once, cooked anything with rhubarb. I know! Shocking, isn't it? I mean, I've tasted it and I like it and all, but it's just never made its way into my kitchen. Maybe this will be my Summer of Rhubarb.

[noëlle {simmer down!}]

I actually like to pair rhubarb with orange, I just made a rhubarb-orange-mint sorbet that turned out pretty well. I had to chuckle about the beet-goat cheese observation. Here, the dried cherries-walnuts-blue cheese on a salad is still ubiquitous (They call it a "Michigan salad" because of the cherries). Over it!

[Sukriti]

Hi Luisa!
I decided to post a comment since you mentioned you miss your food processor.

You should know that it is doing very well :) and has most recently produced yet another lip-smacking hummus.
(next is a tomatillo salsa for cinco de mayo!)

I absolutely love it. Next to my favorite chef's knife, it just may be my most prized possession. I hope you can take solace in the fact that it is so taken care of :)

Oh, and this Betty looks delicious. I'm pretty tired of the strawberry-rhubarb combo as well. Raspberry is such a great idea!

[Sukriti]

ps, i'll definitely make breadcrumbs instead of cubes :)

[Godot]

Yup, Fanny Farmer has ended up in bed with me a few times too...a nice old classic..but I wish I could find the very first version I owned, it's just not the same anymore, still good but each version is just slightly different enough to make it confusing...sometimes the exzact old recipe I'm looking for isn't in it. Oh well. Bet this would be good made with challah bread, I'll have to give that a try. Being at the top of spring and with the summer bounty of fruit on its, nice to be reminded of all the simple fruit dessert options like this. Not elegant, but functional, comfortable and delicious...just the thing to takee back to bed

[Pam]

I think you are a remarkable woman, Luisa! Thank you for another lovely post. My Fannie Farmer cookbook has been in my kitchen for years. It's tattered and some of the pages are falling out, but I don't ever want to replace it with a new one. Best wishes as you continue to inspire.

[Luisa]

Victoria - I've heard that from other people, too - that the Raised Waffles shouldn't be made in a Belgian waffle maker. Perhaps that explains why I didn't love them when I made them!

Sukriti - I was thinking of you the other day, so glad the food processor is keeping you happy and that you are giving it the home it deserves! :)

Pam - thank you... :)

[Molly]

Rhubarb and raspberries are perfection, together. And although I've forgotten most all of my German, mit schlage is one phrase I'll take to my grave. Essential, that one, in rhubarb and life.

[Meredith]

Wish I had everything to make this right now, but I'm missing everything for it, including the bread and butter :( And I think it's not the type of thing you go purposely to shop for, more like something you make because you have those core ingredients on hand, like when you're living on a farm and are well stocked. Well, thanks for the memories. I guess you are feeling nostalgic for things American, and I can see why you turned to Fanny! I might actually do the classic apple one later in the week...my housemate reads this blog too and dropped the hint.....it reminds me of having apples in the cold cellar, stale white bread, fresh farm butter...and my grandmother transforming it into something so sweet and substantial for dessert when the guys come in from the fields for supper.
Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip...one never fully leaves a place, and that's not a sad thing, it's a wonderful thing.

[Sara]

loved reading your tweets about the great time you had back in NY :) Sounds like an inspirational trip. It's like a crumble with croutons, I'm intrigued. AND you make it permissable to eat for breakfast, thats the selling point!

[magdalena]

As I already wrote somewhere else, it is a big pity that I do not like rhubarb. However, it is always good to read all those interesting recipes; if not for me, I can cook and least something for my family....

[sara]

Spargelzeit! :)

I remember that from my time in Berlin...

[Patricia]

This looks amazing, I can't wait to try!

BTW, do you have a post w/ Berlin recs? I'll be spending some time there this summer and am looking forward to trying out some new places

[Vicki]

I once baked the rhubarb custard pie out of Fannie's Baking book and it was the best pie I've ever tasted!

[kim]

I'm so jealous of your bedroom :( when I curl up in bed with a book I either hear: my neighbours' grandchildren screaming and jumping on the furniture | my neighbours' tv blaring away | my other neighbour's washing machine.
I'm so moving out of my apartment this year. And I'm so buying rhubarb this weekend! I didn't buy any yet as I didn't have an occasion to serve any crumble/pie/cobbler/betty yet - but silly me, BREAKFAST is the perfect occasion! Thanks for the inspiration :)

[Levinson Axelrod]

Excellent idea. Fresh fruit and yogurt always goes well together. This would be great for breakfast, dessert, or a summer time snack.

[tasteofbeirut]

I like this dessert; it reminds me of the Shakers, all austere. I like austerity.

[Sheila]

Rhubarb is so awesome and if I saw more of it where I live, I certainly would pick some up and cook it. My mom made a wonderful rhubarb pie. Man, now I might have to stroll over to the g-store and see what I can find! :) Thanks for the awesome article!

[littleclove]

I love how you made this recipe your own. You are very inspiring to me! And I never know what to do with rhubarb. This seems like something I can do, and it looks delicious!

[Haley J.]

Lovely! Rhubarb is so nice paired with good berries, and a minimal dessert like this really lets the flavors of the fruit shine through. A winner!

[laura]

I enjoyed reading this post so much... I need to read more, get back to my "friends". I'm just discovering rhubarb and love the idea of pairing it with raspberries.

[jessica]

Oh yum! My rhubarb is just about ready in the garden!

[Lynsey James March]

Rhubarbs are becoming more and more popular! I love these ideas and can't wait to try them!

[Nicole]

Made this with pear and gingered chocolate tonight for my mother and it was really delicious. I did use a high quality artisan bread. This is a nice, flexible technique that can be either simple or elegant, or both. Thanks for the writing. I look forward to the olive oil cake recipe.

[Ashley]

I've been playing with the rhubarb raspberry combination too and found that baking rhubarb in a raspberry puree (a trick I picked up from the chef at Baker & Banker) is a lovely, lovely topping for vanilla ice cream.

[vanillasugar]

you captured nyc perfectly in those photos. lucky you to be able to come back to nyc for a quick refresher.

[jackie]

I made this this weekend because for whatever reason I had NEVER tried rhubarb, and I wanted to. OMG - I LOVED it, it was soooo good. And my in-laws stopped over on Sunday and they loved it too, they are German & apprantly rhubarb is big in Germany, just like asparagus...

I'm going to have to make another one again asap, I'm starting to obsess-

[Robin]

I have always wondered about betties. Thank you for this introduction! Your last rhubarb post has inspired me to cook with rhubarb twice so far this spring, when it is usually a once a year (at most) thing for me. Always keep in mind that you yourself are an inspiration to your readers!

[2friends]

Thank you for your recipe.I finally found rhubarb at the Trionfale market in Rome at quite a price..but am determined to try this!

[Delishhh]

Rhubarb! rhubarb! Rhubarb! Another amazng Rhubarb idea. I just love Rhubarb and can eat it all the time. This is not as sweet as a pie or cake. THANKS!

[Haley]

Don't ever forget that as you pull inspiration from all these wonderful sources you in turn become our inspiration!! Your writing just brightens my day, and turns dinner into a world of possibilities. Thank you!!

[Lauren]

I have just served this recipe up with a dollop of creme fraiche and it has had rave reviews! I am not too keen on the sweetness / heaviness of crumble so this is a perfect alternative, sharp but buttery with chunky fruit and cool creme fraiche. Its a new favourite!

[Luisa]

Patricia - if you need recs, email me. I don't have an official Berlin post up yet.

Robin and Haley - thank you, lovelies. xo

To everyone - I made this again last night, replacing the raspberries with strawberries (overpowered by popular demand) and with 1 cup of sugar. I skipped the first baking step and simply put the whole thing in the oven for 30 minutes. Instead of yogurt, I whipped cream with sugar until it was barely holding peaks, still really soft. It was a huge hit - the whole pan gobbled up in one swift go by the diners at the table.

[Camille H]

Luisa! This and your last post have taken my breath away. Something has shifted in your universe and it's coming through in your writing and those gorgeous, gorgeous photos. You captured New York with new eyes and I've never seen her like that before. Full of freshness and longing...

I love a betty! I'm in Australia and our way of doing it is with pureed/stewed rhubarb in a dish, then covering with a sponge topping. I can't wait to try your version with the crunch and whole fruit pieces. I stew my rhubarb with muscovado sugar, strips of orange peel and a squeeze of the juice. I add a bit of finely grated peel to the sponge batter. I usually make a homemade custard to go with and have been known to stir through strained pureed raspberries or strawberries into the cooled custard.

[hudsondebb]

I learned many years ago to make a pie of rhubarb and sour cherries.... now that's an uncommon combo, bold, and seriously tart- don't skimp on the sweetener on this one!- but oh so good and a great variation if you're tired of rhubarb & strawberry.
Don't leave out a squeeze of lemon, it needs it to balance the tastes.