Brown Butter Rhubarb Bars

I spent my Senior year of high school in Sweden as a foreign exchange student. It was there that I first tried rhubarb. My host mother Sigrid made a rhubarb crisp for dessert one night, and I may or may not, have embarrassed myself by eating three helpings. After dinner that night Sigrid walked me to the backyard, and proudly showed me her rhubarb plants. The next day she taught me how to make her delicious crisp, and since I am a good student, I promptly began practicing on my own. We ate rhubarb four or five times a week until we exhausted the supply in the backyard. Even then, I went to the grocery store to buy more. Probably out of desperation, Sigrid introduced me to cloudberries and my obsession with rhubarb began to wane, as I became intrigued with this new berry! Though not as intense as it was when we were first introduced, my love affair with rhubarb is still going strong. Which is why this recipe caught my eye. Rhubarb jam! Hello, how had I never thought of this before. I could feed my passion for rhubarb with a simple piece of toast. Combine it with brown butter and well, all bets are off. Brown butter is another favorite of mine, but I will save my love letter about it for another day. The tanginess of the jam with the sweet nuttiness of the bar is a winning combination. I actually tripled the jam recipe and canned the extra in pint size mason jars for the next time I make these bars, or for breakfast, or to eat with a spoon when I am feeling stressed. Don't judge, it's delicious!

Brown Butter Rhubarb Bars

For the rhubarb jam
1 cup sugar
zest and juice of 2 blood oranges
1/2 vanilla bean
4 rhubarb stalks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

For the crust
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 cups flour

For the brown butter filling
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup sugar
zest of 2 oranges
3/4 cup plus 2 TBSP flour
1/2 vanilla bean
1/2 cup plus 2 TBSP unsalted butter

To make the jam put sugar, zest and juice in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape seeds into sugar. Throw in the pod and bring 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 cooking stirring with a wooden spoon, until the rhubarb turns to a smooth jam, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean pod, and transfer the jam to a separate dish to cool.

For the crust, melt the butter in a saucepan, whisking frequently. Brown the butter, about five minutes. Pour into a clean dry bowl and freeze until solid, about 30 minutes. Place the powdered sugar and flour in a bowl and mix. Take out frozen butter and cut into small cubes. Cut butter into flour mixture. Press the crumbly mixture into a 9X13 pan. Press firmly and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Bake the crust at 375 for 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool.

While crust is cooling, make the filling by whisking together the eggs, sugar, zest and flour. Split and scrape the vanilla bean into a saucepan. Add the butter and melt over medium high heat. Brown the butter about five minutes. Discard the vanilla bean pod. Slowly add the brown butter into the egg mixture while whisking to prevent the eggs from scrambling. Keep whisking until all of the butter is incorporated.

To assemble the bars spread half of the brown butter filling over the baked and cooled crust. Spoon large dollops of the rhubarb jam over the filling, reserving a quarter of the jam. Spread the remaining filling over the rhubarb, and finish by spooning smaller dollops of the reserved jam randomly over the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the filling is deep golden brown. Let cool completely.