It’s one of my favourite times of the year. Here are some of the recipes I’m making right now! For the jam recipe below I used some figs I harvested in the autumn and dropped into the freezer at the time:

Rhubarb and Fig Jam

With acknowledgment to the Scottish Farmers’ Market Cookbook

• 2 kg Rhubarb washed and chopped
• 2 kg white sugar
• 5 lemons juiced
• 500g Figs (dried if necessary but fresh are better) chopped and stalky bits removed

Add sugar to rhubarb in a large bowl and squeeze over the lemon juice. Leave overnight
Pour boiling water over the figs to cover. Leave overnight.
Put all ingredients in a heavy bottomed jam pan and boil for about 50 minutes or until thick. Skim off any scum as it rises. Pour into hot, sterilised jars and seal. Label and store in a cool, dark place. It will thicken further on cooling. Give away at Christmas or use yourself as jam, stirred into rice pudding or as a glaze on duck breast or roast ham.

Rhubarb tart

I’ve been making this for years since the recipe was published in ‘The Week’ in 2006. The original recipe was taken from ‘Vegetables by 40 Great French Chefs’. This superb tart serves 8 people.

Pastry

• 100g sugar
• 200g butter
• 300g flour
• a pinch of salt

Filling

• 900g Rhubarb – forced is best
• 1 stem ginger ball and 1 tsp juice
• 75g sugar plus 2tbsp
• 2 tbsp crème fraiche

• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1 egg and 1 extra yolk
  
  (To make a vegan version, substitute the butter with margarine, omit the eggs adding 1 tbsp milled linseed and 4 tbsp of the rhubarb juice instead and use a non-dairy based crème fraiche.)

The day before, cut the rhubarb into 2 cm lengths. Chop the stem ginger ball as small as possible and add to the rhubarb in a bowl. Mix with the ginger juice and 2 tbsps of sugar and leave overnight.

Make the pastry by combining the butter, sugar and salt then gradually mix in the flour. Press the pastry into a 28cm loose bottomed, greased, tart tin as evenly as possible. Chill while you make the filling.

Whip the crème fraiche in a bowl with the remaining 75g sugar, then add the flour and egg to make a smooth custard. Drain the rhubarb and fold into the custard then spread over the pastry in the tart tin.

Bake in a pre-heated oven 220°C (Fan 200°C) for 40-45 minutes turning down to 200°C (Fan 180°C) after 15 minutes or when it starts to brown. Watch it as it nears the end of the cooking time so the rhubarb doesn’t burn. A few black edges are OK!