Rhubarb Crumble

DessertVegetarian

May 22

When Rhubarb is in season, this sweet treat is an excellent way to make the most of it! Crumble is a childhood favourite of mine, I remember helping my grandma prepare the crumble and then excitingly waiting for it to turn golden before grabbing a spoon and scooping up a mouthful, without question, I’d burn my month on the first bite! Thankfully the cool ice cream or cream soothes a hot tongue! I’d then gently eat the crumble off first and mix the rhubarb with the melted ice cream. However you eat it, here’s how to prepare it.

Recipe Details

Serves: 4–6
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins (Fresh) | 35–45 mins (From Frozen)
Ready In: 45 mins
Difficulty: Easy

Meal prep storage

Best eaten fresh. Refrigerate covered with clingfilm for up to 3 days. Freezing: Wrap tightly and freeze raw. Cook from Frozen: Bake at 190°C for 35–45 minutes until piping hot.

Ingredients

--- The Fruit Base ---
400g fresh rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm chunks
75g soft brown sugar
1 tsp cornflour (the secret to a thick, jammy sauce)
1 tsp vanilla essence (or 1 pod/ 1/2 tsp paste)
--- The Crumble Topping ---
100g butter, chilled and cubed
70g flour (white, wholegrain, or almond)
70g rolled oats
30g sugar (caster, coconut, or brown)
10g vanilla sugar (for that professional aromatic finish)

To serve - optional

Cream, ice cream or custard, fresh fruit like berries or some orange slices.

Method

First, preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Secondly, get the butter out of the fridge and put it to one side for now. Then wash and chop the rhubarb into 1-inch chunks and place into a baking dish. Add the vanilla essence, soft brown sugar, and corn flour, using your hands mix it all together.

If you have a little blender, pop in half the rolled oats and give a quick blend to make the oats finer. In a bowl add the flour of your choice (I use a mixture between almond and white flour). Pop in the ground oats and the remaining whole rolled oats, along with the sugar and vanilla sugar, if you don’t have vanilla sugar just add in some essence and a little more of your sugar of choice.

Now cut the butter into small chunks and add to the bowl with the flour. Rub the butter into the mixture, smushing it into the flour using your fingers. After a few moments, all the flour will be lumpy and in small clumps, with no lumps of butter remaining. Tip this over the rhubarb evenly, allowing some areas to have a little more crumble than others. You can always make up some more crumble mix if you don’t think it’s enough.

Pop the crumble into the preheated oven for 25 - 35 minutes, poking with a fork to check if the rhubarb has cooked through and is soft. The crumble will be golden and look slightly crunchy.

Once cooked, allow to cool slightly before serving. Add your additional extras like cream and enjoy!