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Photographs by Sara Remington

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Brown Butter Rhubarb Bars

Michelle loves rhubarb. She used to think that she was the only one who did, until she started making these bars and realized that if you surround it with brown butter, everyone loves rhubarb. There are a few homes in Big Sur with rhubarb patches, and when it comes into season, locals will bring bunches to Michelle as a treat. At that time of year, we still have blood oranges arriving on our doorstep, so we combine them and make a very grown-up bar. The blood oranges give the bars a vibrant red color, and their sweetness balances the tartness of the rhubarb, which in turn helps cut the richness of the buttery crust and filling. These bars are perfect for traveling long distances or packing in a picnic basket—the brown butter will keep them moist. And if your rhubarb is abundant, you can also make a bigger batch of the filling and can it. That way you can make these bars all year ’round. (Be aware that as the jam cooks it will splatter—we recommend wearing long sleeves to prevent burns.)

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INGREDIENTS

FOR THE RHUBARB JAM:

1 cup sugar

Grated zest and juice of 2 blood oranges

½ vanilla bean

4 rhubarb stalks, cut into ½-inch pieces

FOR THE CRUST:

1 cup unsalted butter

½ cup powdered sugar

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Makes 1 dozen bars

To prepare the rhubarb jam: Place the sugar, blood orange zest and juice in a medium saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise with a paring knife, scrape out the pulp with the back of the knife, put the pulp and the pod in the pan, and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat. Continue cooking until the faintest bit of caramel color starts to appear around the edge of the pot. Add the rhubarb. Continue to cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the rhubarb turns into a smooth jam, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer the jam (discarding the vanilla bean) to a separate dish to cool while you make the crust and filling.

Make the crust next: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking frequently. Cook until the butter separates and the white milk solids start to brown and smell nutty, about 5 minutes. Pour the hot brown butter into a dry bowl and freeze until solid, about 30 minutes. Place the powdered sugar and flour in a bowl and mix to combine. Take out the frozen butter and cut it into small cubes. Mix the cubes into the flour mixture, using a pastry cutter to break up the butter until large crumbs start to form. Work the crumbs together into a crumbly dough with both hands, and place it in a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Press the dough firmly with the bottom of a glass to make sure that the crust evenly covers the entire bottom of the dish. Chill the crust in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

While the crust is chilling, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 375°F.

Bake the crust for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Let it cool before assembling the bars. (Leave the oven on.)

While the crust is cooling, make the brown butter filling: Whisk together the eggs, sugar, orange zest, and flour in a medium bowl. Split and scrape the vanilla bean just as you did for the rhubarb jam, and put the pulp and the pod in a medium saucepan. Add the butter and melt over medium-high heat. Cook until the butter separates and the white milk solids start to brown and smell nutty. (Discard the vanilla bean.) Carefully add the warm brown butter to the egg mixture, whisking constantly until all the butter is incorporated.

FOR THE BROWN BUTTER FILLING:

3 eggs

1 ¼ cups sugar

Grated zest of 2 oranges

¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons

all-purpose flour

½ vanilla bean

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

To assemble the bars, spread half of the brown butter filling over the cooled baked crust. Spoon large dollops of the rhubarb jam over the filling, reserving a quarter of the jam. Spread the remaining brown butter filling over the rhubarb, and finish by spooning smaller dollops of the reserved jam randomly over the top. Bake