Rhubarb season just began and already I'm overwhelmed with tons of it! For the year's inaugural rhubarb dish, I decided to try this cobbler. I was intrigued by the whole-grain dumplings atop it, and I was looking for a fairly tart preparation that would allow the sourness of the rhubarb to shine through. For comparison, my mom's first rhubarb dish this year was classic rhubarb crisp-it's tasty but very, very sweet. I don't think the purpose of cooking with an ingredient is to smush its extremest qualities, but rather to soften their harshness. I picked this recipe because it asked for much less sugar than others do, though there is a lot of hidden sugar in the orange juice. The verdict: the dumplings are just lovely. I will use this preparation in other recipes calling for a cobbler topping in the future. As for the filling, it's not perfect, which dropped it to four stars. While not off-putting at all, I just wasn't pleased with the orange-juice flavor on top of the rhubarb flavor. It just seemed to add an extra tart-fruit not that isn't needed. In the future I will try halving the orange juice, or going all water. I'd rather add a little extra granulated sugar if necessary than taste the orange in this. Also, in spite of all the stirring and thickening, the rhubarb mixture remained more liquidy than I'd like when out of the oven (and even after refrigeration), but that's not a deal-breaker. Overall, it's a really good dessert that with a small tweak or two could be perfect.

I started making this recipe last Spring when our rhubarb was ready and I made it three or four times. Rhubarb is back again and I got out this recipe. The kids like it (almost 3 and 18 months), my husband and I like it and grandma and grandpa like it. One pan doesn't last long. I've "healthified" it even further - used whole wheat flour instead of cornstarch and the white flour, soymilk instead of milk, and even used orange-pineapple juice and it still tastes great. Thanks!