Spiced Rhubarb Compote
Dried rhubarb, sugar, vinegar, and warm spice cooked down over coals into a sour-sweet spoonable topping.
- calories
- 320
- weight
- 3.2 oz
- cal / oz
- 100
- protein
- 1 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 35 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- 350 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Dehydrate ahead
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Dried rhubarb | 2 cups | about 5 cups fresh, cut in 1/2 inch cubes and dried |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 2 1/2 cups | white or turbinado, both work |
| Cider vinegar | 1/2 cup | decanted into a leakproof bottle |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp | |
| Ground cloves | 1/2 tsp | |
| Ground allspice | 1/2 tsp | |
| Water | 1 1/2 cups | 350 ml, to rehydrate the rhubarb |
Method
- Put the dried rhubarb and 350 ml of water in the dutch oven and let it sit 15 minutes off the heat. It needs the head start.
- Add the sugar, vinegar, and all three spices. Stir once.
- Set the oven over a bed of coals and bring it to a boil, lid off. Ten or so coals underneath is plenty.
- Pull most of the coals out from under and leave a ring on the lid. Hold a bare simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every ten so the sugar does not catch on the bottom.
- It is done when a spoon dragged across the bottom leaves a track that closes slowly. Take it off and let it cool. It thickens further as it drops in temperature.
- Spoon it over biscuits, pancakes, or straight into a mug.
Fresh rhubarb is 95 percent water and bruises in a pack, so this version starts dried. The 15-minute soak before the heat goes on matters: dry rhubarb thrown straight into hot syrup stays leathery, because sugar pulls water out faster than the fruit can take it in.
The vinegar is not a garnish. Rhubarb loses acid when you cook it this long with this much sugar, and without the vinegar you end up with sweet mush. Sugar at this ratio is also what makes the leftovers safe in a warm pack for a couple of days — it is a preserve, not a fruit sauce.
Packing
Dry the rhubarb at home, 135°F until it rattles. Premix the sugar and spices in one bag, rhubarb in another. Vinegar goes in a small screw-top bottle inside a ziploc, because it will find a way out otherwise.
Variations
- No dutch oven: same thing in a pot on a canister stove at the lowest flame you can hold, stirring more often.
- Cut the sugar to 1 1/2 cups if you want it sour enough to eat with cheese instead of over dessert.
- A strip of dried orange peel dropped in with the spices adds bitterness that the cloves need.
https://www.boyscouttrail.com/content/recipe/spiced_rhubarb-1250.asp