Rhubarb Posset

a silky, trembling cream set with rhubarb juice and lemon: double cream infused with the bright acidity of forced rhubarb and sharp citrus, poured into small glasses and chilled to a barely-set, spoonable cream, the most elegantly simple pudding of the Yorkshire forced rhubarb season

Origin: The Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle — Wakefield, Leeds, and Bradford, West Riding

From the journey of Rhubarb.

A posset is one of the most ancient categories of English dessert: a warm, curdled drink of heated cream and wine or ale, drunk medicinally and socially from the medieval period through the 17th century. The modern cold posset, which has little relation to its hot medieval ancestor except the name, emerged in the late 20th century as a simplified version of the panna cotta: cream, sugar, and an acidic ingredient (most commonly lemon juice) heated together, poured into glasses, and allowed to set without gelatine through the action of the acid alone. Where gelatine produces a bouncy, structural set, the acid-set posset produces something softer and more tremulous: a cream that has barely solidified, with a texture somewhere between a thick custard and a very soft set jelly, and a richness that is cut by the acidity to leave a flavour that is clean and intensely dairy without being heavy. The rhubarb posset marries this technique with the forced rhubarb of the Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle: the pale, brilliant pink stalks are cooked briefly with sugar to extract their juice and flavour, and the strained rhubarb liquid (vivid, sharp, deeply coloured) is used in place of (or alongside) lemon juice to set the cream. The result inherits the posset's silky, barely-set character and adds the unmistakable tart, fruity character of forced rhubarb, with the brilliant rose-pink colour that only the Triangle's winter harvest can produce. It is a dessert that seems almost impossibly luxurious for the simplicity of its preparation.

Ingredients

Rhubarb Base

400 g forced rhubarb stalks, cut into 3 cm pieces
100 g caster sugar
3 tbsp water

Posset

600 ml double cream
120 g caster sugar
1 lemon, juice only

Method

Cook the rhubarb with the 100 g sugar and 3 tbsp water in a saucepan over medium heat for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rhubarb has completely collapsed and is very soft. Pass through a fine sieve into a jug, pressing firmly to extract all the juice. Discard the pulp. You should have approximately 200–250 ml of vivid pink rhubarb juice. Allow to cool.
Place the cream and 120 g caster sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then bring to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring, for exactly 3 minutes; no longer. The cream will rise dramatically; have a large enough pan and do not leave the stove.
Remove from the heat. Stir in the lemon juice and 150 ml of the strained rhubarb juice. Stir well to combine. Taste: the mixture should be rich, creamy, noticeably sharp, and vibrantly flavoured; adjust with additional rhubarb juice or lemon juice to taste. The mixture will be liquid at this stage.
Pour into 6 small glasses or ramekins, leaving a small gap at the top. Allow to cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes), then refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight, until set. The posset should be barely set, trembling and spoonable, not firm.
Serve the possets directly in their glasses, topped with a small spoonful of the reserved rhubarb juice (concentrated to a thin syrup if desired), a few pieces of very thinly sliced or lightly stewed forced rhubarb, and a shortbread biscuit alongside.

Notes

The posset can be prepared 24–48 hours in advance and kept refrigerated; it improves slightly overnight as the flavours settle. If the posset is not setting after 4 hours, it is likely that the cream was not boiled quite long enough; this is an acid-set preparation and the boiling activates the setting mechanism. Use only double cream (minimum 48% fat); single cream and whipping cream will not set by this method.

The Gastrographer

Name: Rhubarb Posset
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: West Riding
Ingredients: 400 g forced rhubarb stalks, cut into 3 cm pieces; 100 g caster sugar; 3 tbsp water; 600 ml double cream; 120 g caster sugar; 1 lemon, juice only

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control