So before I ever began writing this post it occurred to me to double check whether rhubarb was a fruit or a vegetable - one of those instances where you doubt something that would normally be glaringly obvious - anyway its a vegetable. And a robust one at that, the house my family moved into just over 10 years ago had been empty for year so that we could have made silage from the front lawn. Down the back was a thriving patch of rhubarb and a few blackberry bushes. The rhubarb has since become a staple of our diets this time of year, normally stewed with custard and ice cream and of course in tarts. Usual rule applies of no one making better rhubarb tarts than my Mom. So when I decided to bring a bag of rhubarb stalks back to Dublin with me there was no chance I was gona tackle a tart or anything too involved.

So googling and based on watching too many cookery shows I set to whipping some cream. Meanwhile some chopped up rhubarb was cooking with orange juice and lots of sugar in the oven turning to mush. Strain juice from the cooked rhubarb, and mash up roughly. Stick the strained juice in a sauce pan, with some extra sugar and put on a relatively high heat to reduce to a sticky sweet sauce. So now with your rhubarb cooled combine this with the cream, to a relatively smooth consistency. Pour the reduced rhubarb sauce on top. I used wine glasses to serve it. As for measures just wing it - adding the extra sugar to the reduction gives it an extra quick of sweetness that cuts into the nicely tart cream combination.