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Some of my early childhood memories involve BBQs at my paternal Grandparent’s house. There were many “work-days” where some kind of project needed to be done, whether it be yard work, tree trimming or just because it was Saturday. Once the work was done there was always food (because how else did we get everyone to come!) One early memory I have is of a dessert called “Rhubarb Swirl.” To this day it is still hard to describe to anyone outside of the family. But in a nutshell, it involves tart rhubarb juice, Jell-O, and Cool Whip. The rhubarb adds a tartness that offsets the jello making it cool, light and refreshing and a great dessert for summer potlucks.

I asked my Aunt Betty to give a little history about where this dessert came from. My Grandma found it in a magazine 50 years ago. The original recipe calls for leaving chunks of rhubarb in with the juice and to make a graham cracker crust in a springform pan. The version I grew up with only uses the juice and doesn’t use a graham cracker crust. I traditionally serve it in a glass bowl or dish so that you can see all the layers swirled together.

PICKING RHUBARB

The first step for this recipe is to pick or buy some rhubarb from your local grocery or farmer’s market. We are lucky enough to have friends in our area that grow acres of rhubarb for canneries.

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Rhubarb grows as a bush that has stalks with large leaves. The leaves are poisonous so if you are cutting your own make sure those are discarded. After you cut the leaves off you will be left with the crimson stalks as pictured below.

RHUBARB JUICE

Make sure to wash all your rhubarb stalks. Then cut them into bite-size chunks and place in a saucepan over medium heat. I usually had about 1/2″ of water to the pan as well, you won’t need much since rhubarb contains a lot of water. Cook the rhubarb down until it is very mushy and you can no longer see any chunks. (A few chunks are fine.) I will warn you that the cooked rhubarb does not look very appetizing.

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Then take a mesh strainer and ladle the cooked rhubarb over a bowl or pitcher so that the juice will flow through and the strainer will catch all the fibrous rhubarb. I use the bottom of the ladle to push down on the mixture to try and get as much juice out of it as possible. You will then be left with the beautiful rose hued juice.

RHUBARB SWIRL DESSERT

Combine the rhubarb juice, jello and boiling water and place in the fridge to cool but not set.

Meanwhile mix together the sugar, flour and milk and heat using a double boiler method. You will want to heat it until it starts to thicken, about 2 minutes.

Once the pudding mixture has thickened remove from heat. Then in a small bowl mix together the water and Knox gelatin packet and add to the pudding mixture along with the vanilla. Let the pudding mixture cool to thicken more.

Remove the jello/rhubarb mixture from the fridge and beat with a hand mixer or stand up mixer until the entire mixture is frothy.

Fold in the entire carton of Cool-Whip to the pudding mixture. You can put this in the fridge for about 5 minutes to thicken a little more if you desire.

ASSEMBLING THE DESSERT

Now comes time to assemble the dessert! Starting with the jello mixture start alternating and layering each mixture until it all has been used.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If your pudding mixture does not completely thicken this is ok, your layers just won’t be as noticeable but it will still taste great!

I also whipped up some homemade whipped cream to add to the top. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight to allow it to set up.

Last but not least: ENJOY! I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I do.

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