Rhubarb Pudding
A crowd-pleasing vegetarian built around stale sponge cake or white bread and rhubarb, trimmed — roughly 65 minutes start to finish, and rated medium to make. You'll find the full ingredient list (with a scaler to change the servings), 7 steps of method, substitutions, and ideas for what to serve alongside.
You'll mainly reach for oven and saucepan. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (2)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and lightly butter a 1.5 litre baking dish.
- Cut the rhubarb into 2 cm pieces and place in a saucepan with 120 g of the granulated sugar, the water and the cinnamon, then cook gently over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes until the rhubarb has softened into a thick, juicy compote.
- Tear or crumble the stale cake or bread into rough pieces and toss with the melted butter and the remaining 30 g granulated sugar.
- Layer half the buttered crumbs over the base of the dish, spoon the warm rhubarb over them, then top with the remaining crumbs and press down lightly.
- Whisk the egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl until soft peaks form, then add the caster sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking continuously until the meringue is glossy and holds stiff peaks.
- Spoon the meringue over the pudding, spreading it to the edges to seal and swirling the surface into peaks.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until the meringue is set and golden, then serve warm or at room temperature with cream or custard.
You'll use: Oven · Saucepan · Pan · Large pot · Whisk
Ingredient substitutions
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
Tips & common questions
How long does Rhubarb Pudding take to make?
About 65 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 8 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of butter?
Try olive oil (¾ the amount). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Rhubarb Pudding vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Rhubarb Pudding is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Rice pudding ice cream, English rhubarb, chewy beets and mulberries - Plates Restaurant - Old Street - London 2025-02-15.jpg by Haydn Blackey, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.