Bursts of fruity tartness make a gorgeous contrast to sweet white chocolate chunks. These rhubarb and white chocolate muffins are a great way to use this classic British vegetable. They’re moist, popular and very moreish.
Grow Your Own Rhubarb
Yes, as stated above, rhubarb is actually a vegetable, not a fruit. But as we mostly use it for cooking sweet stuff, it’s often referred to as fruit. It’s quite an easy crop to grow in our cold climate, though it likes a moist fertile ground. It comes into season in early spring when there really isn’t much else in the way of fruit to eat.
On our old allotment we used to harvest massive amounts of rhubarb and it was always a challenge to try and use it up. I used to make crumble of course, rhubarb and ginger cake, rhubarb polenta cake and rhubarb vodka. I’d give it away and even managed to sell it at our local organic shop a few times.
Since losing that plot, however, we’ve been rhubarbless for three years now and I really miss it. We planted a crown in our new plot this year, but won’t be able to harvest anything until next year.
Luckily, we passed a crown of our old rhubarb to my mother and a couple of weeks ago she gave me a nice bunch of it to use – hoorah! I’d already spotted a rhubarb and white chocolate muffin recipe over at The Chocolate Teapot. It sounded delicious, so I knew exactly what I wanted to make with it.
The rhubarb donation happened to coincide with a wild food walk. This combined a local tour of three vegetable plots of varying styles, one of which was ours.
The walk and tour was a great success. This was mostly because we had a good turnout, the weather was fabulous, the plots were appreciated, lots of knowledge was shared and the tea was totally scrumptious. Unfortunately I forgot, again, to take lots of photographs as we went along. Oops!
Rhubarb and White Chocolate Muffins
We had to have tea and cake en route of course, so these rhubarb and white chocolate muffins were my contribution. Whilst these are called muffins, they’re more like cakes really. Very little mixing is needed for muffins, whereas these rhubarb and white chocolate cakes require creaming butter and sugar together, before adding any additional ingredients.
As per usual, I want my own way with the recipe. As I had Greek yoghurt in the fridge and no buttermilk I made a substitution using part yoghurt and part water.
I also added vanilla, which wasn’t in the original. Much like rhubarb and ginger or rhubarb and orange, vanilla makes an excellent partner to rhubarb. For the vanilla element I used Green and Black’s white chocolate, which is very vanillary and vanilla sugar. I have a jar of granulated sugar with vanilla pods in it permanently on the go. But you could use vanilla extract instead.
And of course I added wholemeal flour. I should probably have gone for a hundred percent wholemeal, but in the end I opted for a half and half mix.
Because I’d included so much rhubarb in the muffins, the result was particularly moist. But oh, so good to eat. The tartness and flavour of the rhubarb was a great contrast to the sweetness of the white chocolate. And really, who wants a dry muffin?
All of them disappeared and the feedback was very positive. I did notice one participant going back for a sneaky second.
What Flavours Pair Well With Rhubarb?
As you can see if you head to my rhubarb crumble post, rhubarb pairs well with a number of other ingredients. Ginger and orange are classic partners, however, less well known but equally good are: vanilla, honey, rose, strawberries and cardamom. One of the reasons these rhubarb and white chocolate muffins are so good is because of the vanilla content in the white chocolate.
Rhubarb makes excellent cakes, puddings and pies and of course it’s an excellent accompaniment to custard. But it’s also good in savoury dishes too. Have you thought of rhubarb chutney for example?
Other Rhubarb Recipes You Might Like
- Champagne syllabub with orange rhubarb compote
- Chocolate pavlovas with rhubarb curd
- Remarkable rhubarb cake
- Rhubarb crumble with ten variations
- Rustic rhubarb galette with orange flaky pastry
- Waffles with rhubarb & rose compote
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make these delicious rhubarb and white chocolate cakes, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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If you’d like more individual cake recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.
Choclette x
Rhubarb and White Chocolate Muffins. PIN IT.
Rhubarb and White Chocolate Muffins – The Recipe
Rhubarb and White Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 400 g rhubarb (6-8 sticks)
- 150 g white chocolate (I used Green & Black’s, which is very vanillary)
- 80 g unsalted butter – softened
- 150 g golden caster sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
- 2 large eggs (I used duck eggs)
- ½ – 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional – see note below)
- 100 g Greek yoghurt
- 225 g flour (½ wholemeal, ½ white)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 50 g water
Instructions
- Turn the oven on to 200℃ (180℃ fan, 400℉, Gas 6).
- Chop the rhubarb into small pieces.400 g rhubarb
- Chop the white chocolate into small pieces.150 g white chocolate
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.80 g unsalted butter – softened, 150 g golden caster sugar
- Beat in the eggs one by one, then stir in the yoghurt. If using vanilla extract add it along with the eggs.2 large eggs, ½ – 1 tsp vanilla extract, 100 g Greek yoghurt
- Sift the flour and baking powder, then stir in alternately with the water.225 g flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 50 g water
- Add the rhubarb and chocolate pieces and mix gently until everything is incorporated. One of the keys to a good muffin is not to over mix.
- Spoon into 12 muffin holes lined with cases and bake in the middle of the preheated oven for twenty minutes or until just starting to brown.
- Turn out of the holes and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Henk Kooiman says
Made these yesterday evening. Really a nice muffin ! The combination of rhubarb and white chocolate works well. I think I’ll have another one right now ….
Choclette says
Thank you. I find white chocolate works really well with most fruit – the sweetness of the chocolate is tempered by the fruits acidity and vice versa.
Choclette says
MangoCheeks – Thank you. I found it hard giving up our plot, but at least we did it voluntarily. I can only imagine how awful it was for you. Rhubarb is great and I hope you enjoy the vodka. We did have a lovely weekend, hope you did too.
mangocheeks says
I like the moistness of the rhubarb in muffins.
I know you’ve told me before about losing your first plot, but my heart sank as I read your entry. I feel your pain, you know why. I too would have been harvesting righ now. Now that I am back from my holidays, I am going to see if I find some locally grown rhubarb, but the one good thing. You’ve reminded me about my rhubarb vodka. Must guzzle some this evening, as I haven’t got any wine in the house. Have a lovely weekend.
Choclette says
Emmalene – thank you. I generally use duck eggs if I can for baking but can’t always get hold of them. It’s fine substituting large hens eggs instead.
Johanna – rhubarb is a wonderful plant indeed and I am looking forward to having an abundance once again.
Johanna GGG says
sounds like a great way to use your rhubarb – though what a joy to have an abundance of rhubarb as there are so many great ways to use it
Emmalene says
Hmmm rhubarb and white chocolate-with Greek yoghurt in too, I’m drooling. It sounds absolutely gorgeous, and I love the mix of pink, white and green! Why duck eggs- are they bigger than hen eggs, and if you used hen eggs would you need 3 instead of 2? Would like to make these- I mean they’re practically a health food 😉
Thanks for stopping by my blog x
Choclette says
Vegan Foody – Oh great, will watch out for what you come up with. Always looking for good vegan chocolate cake recipes. Will soon need to bake something for work and we have a vegan to cater for.
M D – tempting you all is my aim!
M D says
Oh this is lovely! U are now tempting me with these!
veganfoody says
Mmm.. I love rhubarb, but I’m generally very boring with it, and just make rhubarb crumble. These sound delicious: I have saved the recipe, and will ‘veganise’ it, and have a go at making them myself.
Choclette says
Thank you Ananda
Brownieville – thank you for the award, that’s very kind of you. Rhubarb is great isn’t it – can’t understand why I didn’t like it when I was a child.
Foodycat – have you got room for rhubarb?
Sushma – thank you
Celia – thank you. It’s hard to remember you’re coming up to winter over there. Mind you it’s overcast and cold here at the moment.
Little Space – thank you for your nice comments and for visiting. I’m still completely amazed at the matcha bread you made.
Kath – not had Damson vodka, but guess it’s a bit like sloe – delicious. Rhubarb very different, but great to have both.
Kath says
Right, rhubarb vodka is now on my to do list. Will it compete with damson vodka on the scale of yumminess. I hope so.
My Little Space says
Hi there, thanks for visiting my blog earlier and nice to meet you. I guess it’s rhubarb & asparagus season now, right! Your tea cake look wonderful and just right on time. I’m having a cup of tea right now… just imagine with these. That would be perfect! Hope to hear from you more often. Have a nice day!
Cheers, Kristy
p/s you’ve such a lovely blog here. Looking forward for more!
Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial says
Choclette, such lovely pastel colours – I love the pink and tinges of light green! Lovely photos – a stark contrast to our wet and overcast Sydney weather at the moment!
Sushma Mallya says
Lovely combo, it really looks delicious as well as beautiful..
Foodycat says
These look so good! Now you are making me think that I should plant some rhubarb.
Brownieville Girl says
Choclette,
I have an award for you over on my blog :-}}
I am a huge rhubarb fan, so will try these muffins soon.
Ananda Rajashekar says
this looks delicious, loved the bit of rhubarb ink’s there awee 🙂
Choclette says
Suelle – white chocolate is quite sickly I find if eaten on it’s own, but I do like it in cooking. It gives a certain creaminess to cakes if fully incorporated or a sweet contrast to sour fruit if in chunks. It worked really well with rhubarb.
Barbara – thanks for dropping by. I made another chocolate cake with rhubarb this weekend – dark chocolate this time.
Kate – your cake sounds gorgeous – lovely idea. Something at the back of my mind is telling me I did try rhubarb once in a savoury dish, but I can’t quite remember what and I’m assuming it wasn’t a hit as I haven’t tried using it again. I have made rhubarb chutney though which was OK but that slightly stringy texture was a bit odd.
City Hippy – so are you moving? How big is your garden? Rhubarb vodka is dead easy – all that’s needed is patience.
Jesa – thanks for the kind comment and for following.
Oxslip – Oh gooseberries! I haven’t had those since we gave up our last allotment 3 years ago – they do make the best jam, better than strawberry I reckon. We are really lucky to have got a plot, they are like gold dust round here. It’s not really an allotment, we’re using a bit of a friend’s field, so it’s pretty and quiet. The downside is that it’s a bit of a trek away.
Gillian – yum, that sounds good.
Chele – thank you for getting me onto these, they will be a rhubarb season regular I think.
Joanna – thank you. These are definitely worth making. What sort of chocolate cake will you be baking I wonder.
Joanna says
These look scrumptious! What a good idea! I’m going to roll up my sleeves and make a chocolate cake for people coming for tea tomorrow afternoon. Haven’t got any rhubarb around right now but I will definitely be making these one day soon.
Chele says
I’d forgotten about these little babies! They are a bit yummy aren’t they! There is some rhubarb in the fridge so I may just need to whip a batch up ;0)
Glad you enjoyed them!
somesaycocoa says
Excellent. I was just here wondering if rhubarb would work with white chocolate. I need wonder no more and will be using the combo in a layered flapjack later this week.
oxslip says
Rhubarb, second only to gooseberries for British summeriness, delicious. Looks like a fun day, I’m jealous of your allotment.
Jesa says
wow, very well put together blog!
and man this looks good…ok so all your posts do.
I’m a fan 🙂
Following!
Cheers, Jesa
cityhippyfarmgirl says
They look wonderful… Damn tasty.The garden pictures are lovely too. I am always kicking myself for not having put my name down for our local community garden. Its a lottery draw to get in, and I always thought we would be moving so didn’t get organised to do it.
The rhubarb vodka sounds delicious, and its really that easy?
I boarded the rhubarb train last night too- Rhubarb Tart was made.
Grazing Kate says
Lovely pictures (the ones you remembered to take!). Funnily enough I was ‘doing’ rhubarb in a cakey way last night – had some rhubarb and slightly squidgy pears to use up so bunged them in a cake tin, rustled up a small Victoria Sandwich batter (two of my chickens’ eggs, rather than 3) and cooked it as an Upside Down cake. Also added some chopped ginger in syrup to the fruit to give it a sugary tang.
As you say, rhubarb gives fantastic moistness to cakey goods – it’s not just for crumble and pies – have you ever experimented with savoury rhubarb dishes? I haven’t as my kids would feel shortchanged without the rhubarb as pudding!
Barbara says
I adore rhubarb…if you follow my blog, you’ll be aware of that. I bore reader to pieces with all my rhubarb recipes. Now this is new one for me….do love the idea of combining rhubarb with chocolate! Ingenious. Copying your recipe now!
Suelle says
I don’t really like white chocolate, except as a visual contrast to something dark, as I think it’s pretty flavourlees, but I can imagine it goes really well with the tartness of fhubarb.
Choclette says
Gill – they were rather good. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance for a second one, sneaky or otherwise. These photographs were from the 1st garden – ours was the last and I’d long forgotten about having a camera and taking photos by then. Meant to be spending the day down at our plot today, but it’s pouring, so I’m making a cake instead!
Lucie – Do have a go at these, they are scrumptious.
Lisa – Thanks. Will have to check out your blog for your version.
Kath – Rhubarb vodka is lovely (assuming one likes rhubarb) and very easy. Just chop up the rhubarb, bung in some granulated sugar (depending how sweet you like your drinks) and top up with vodka. Keep in an air tight container for as long as you can manage – I try to keep it for at least 6 months. I put some fresh ginger in one batch which worked well.
Kath says
The wild walk sounds brilliant and the rhubarb muffins look delicious. Rhubarb vodka sounds very good indeed. I’ve not heard of that one before.
Lisa says
Lovely! I made a similar recipe recently and loved the combination of rhubarb and creamy white chocolate. Gorgeous photos!
Gill the Painter says
My oh my, your muffins look fabulous. I’d sneak back for a second one if I could.
Is your allotment the one with the shed?
Lucie says
I had my eye on doing these too – yours look lovely. The alloment looks wonderful.