Iowa recipe: Rhubarb dessert

This recipe for rhubarb dessert is in many of my old church cookbooks, in one variation or another.  It's basically a "dump" dessert, just pile the ingredients on top of one another and bake.  I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to turn out, having never tried it before.  It ended up looking and tasting like a rhubarb cobbler.

First you put a layer of cut-up rhubarb on the bottom of the pan. Then a layer of sugar, another layer of strawberry gelatin and another layer of yellow cake mix. Pour water over it all, and that's it. Very easy.

I would recommend serving this dessert right away, because it starts to get a little soggy the next day.  Here's the full recipe, if you want to give it a try.

-------------------------------------------------------

Rhubarb dessert

• 4 C. fresh chopped rhubarb
• 1 C. sugar
• 1 (3 oz.) package red gelatin
• 1 small size yellow cake mix (like Jiffy)
• 1 C. cold water
• 1/2 C. butter 

Spread rhubarb in an 8x10-inch pan or baking dish. Sprinkle the sugar over rhubarb, then gelatin, followed by the dry cake mix.  Spoon the water over the cake mix layer.  Melt butter and drizzle over all. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Serve warm or cold with whipped topping or ice cream.