Rhubarb Custard Trap with Stem Ginger Snap
Yorkshire's pink gold meets custard's velvet, ginger keeps you honest
Rhubarb forced in Yorkshire sheds comes tender and pink as ballet shoes — it's the custard that makes this sing, proper egg yolks and no shortcuts. Stem ginger biscuits crumbled over top stop it being too polite. Ate something like this at my nan's kitchen table in Castleford, thirty years ago, and never quite grew out of it.
How to Cook It
- 01
Stew the rhubarb
Chop rhubarb into 3cm chunks. Tip into a pan with 40g sugar and 2 tbsp water. Low heat for 8–10 minutes until it collapses into a jammy mess but still holds shape. Cool slightly. You want pink ribbons, not purée.
~12 min - 02
Make the custard base
Heat milk and cream together until steaming (don't boil). Whisk egg yolks with 30g sugar until pale and thick, about 2 minutes. Slowly pour hot milk into yolks while whisking — temper them gently, no scrambling. Add vanilla. Sieve the whole lot to catch any cooked bits.
~8 min - 03
Strain and set the custard
Pour custard into a jug. Set a bain-marie (bowl over simmering water) and pour custard in, stirring every minute or so. After 12–15 minutes it'll coat the back of a spoon and thicken — not set, just glossy and warm. Take off heat, let it cool five minutes.
~18 min - 04
Crush the ginger snap
Bash biscuits in a bag with a rolling pin until you've got chunky crumbs and some fine dust — you want texture, not biscuit flour. Melt 50g butter in a pan and toast the crumbs for 2 minutes until they smell toasty and gingery.
~5 min - 05
Assemble and chill
Spoon rhubarb into four glasses or bowls. Pour warm custard over top, or chill custard and pour cold — either works. Top with buttered ginger crumbs just before serving. Dust of extra if you fancy. Eat within four hours or custard gets weird.
~2 min
“This isn't fancy. Spoon rhubarb into the bottom of a wine glass or proper pudding bowl — let people see the pink. Pour custard over warm (or chill it first; no shame in that). Scatter the buttered ginger crumbs on top just before it hits the table, so they stay crisp. A spoon, a napkin, that's it. The rhubarb, custard, and ginger do the talking.”
Tart rhubarb opens first — cuts through the cream without apology. Custard comes next, silky and eggy-rich, no grittiness if you've done the bain-marie right. Ginger crumbs add heat and crunch, keep you awake. Last thing lingering is vanilla sweetness and that biscuit-butter toast. Proper comfort, but not heavy.
Replace double cream with oat cream (100ml), milk with oat milk (300ml). Custard becomes cashew-cornstarch instead of eggs: blend 100g soaked raw cashews with 150ml oat milk, strain through fine sieve, warm gently with remaining milk, 30g sugar, and vanilla. Thicken with 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water, stirred in off-heat. It won't be identical — less glossy, slightly grainy — but it's warm, creamy, and honest. Ginger crumbs stay as-is (check biscuits for dairy; most are fine). Rhubarb is already vegan. You'll lose nothing but the smugness.
Slight fizz, low alcohol, honeyed sweetness — won't fight the rhubarb's tartness
Apple cuts through cream, doesn't compete with ginger — proper pairing if you're not wine-leaning
Tannins balance the custard, warmth marries the whole thing — no faffing about needed
- ·Don't overstir the custard or you'll scramble it — low and slow, every minute, trust the bain-marie
- ·Forced rhubarb needs less sugar than garden rhubarb — taste it raw and adjust; nobody likes a pudding that tastes like medicine
- ·Biscuit crumbs go soggy if you make them more than two hours ahead — toast and chill, add at the last minute
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