I think my rhubarb plant loves me.  I blush to say this, but it’s got to be true. Each season, it gets bigger and more productive.  This year, it multiplied so I actually have two rhubarb plants this year.  And while its stalks don’t turn that luscious, deep red of some varieties, its flavor is unparalleled. Like a tangy dream with a hint of flowers, greenery, perfume. This may be, in part, because it shares the soil with honeysuckle, so maybe some of that honey goes into the rhubarb.  I’m not sure, but there must be a soil scientist out there who could tell me. I’ll leave it to the poetry of the idea.

My rhubarb pushes up from the ground early, in April, then it gives fruit by early May.  I pick ALL of it and make my now-famous rhubarb cake.  And tarts. And compote.  Then the plant musters energy to provide more stalks. This year it held off during the “canicule,” when temperatures crested  an unprecedeted-for-Normandy 100F. Once rain fell and temperatures dropped, however, it shot up so many stalks that I cannot keep up.  What a problem!

Instead of re-making my favorite recipes I tried a new one. And I’m here to share it with you because it’s a winner.  And it’s simple. And it’s quick. And you, your family, your guests will want to eat it over and over again.

I served it the other day to two friends over for tea, a thrice yearly event.  My friends are Irish; tea is their currency.  And they love their high tea, a meal early in the evening that we savor long into the night.

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When I served this rhubarb dessert one of my friends, a chef, said “You could turn this into a cheesecake.”  And indeed, you could.  Here it is crowned by sweetened vanilla creme fraiche, raw, from the market. But you could also use cream cheese, or yogurt cheese, or…but try it with cream. It’s a light and refreshing surprise that you’ll love.

*If you don’t have a nectarine try a peach. If you don’t have a peach, try strawberries, or paper-thin slices of raw rhubarb, or nothing at all.

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