Your belly will rumble for this scrumptious rhubarb crumble with it’s golden crunchy topping and a fabulously fruity filling.
When I lived in Australia, I hardly ever bought rhubarb because I thought it was so expensive although to be honest, it’s not much cheaper to buy in the UK, insert “shocked face emoji.”
I don’t know why it’s so expensive because it literally grows like a weed! As it is, I never have to buy rhubarb because I have some lovely friends and neighbours who are my personal rhubarb dealers and keep me going with a steady supply.
Since we moved to the UK, I’ve had a lot of time and a lot of rhubarb to practice getting this recipe just right. You’re welcome!
It’s the topping that puts this crumble in a league of it’s own. Its got flour and butter of course but it’s the addition of brown sugar, oats and walnuts that makes the topping a golden crunchy taste sensation that works so well with the sourness of the rhubarb. And to my mind, adding oats and walnuts basically makes this dessert a health food, LOL!
I do mix things up a bit with the filling adding a drop of port in place of sugar but if you don’t have any or want to keep things alcohol free just give it a miss.
This recipe is also very versatile, if my rhubarb stocks are running low, I add whatever fruit I have to hand to bulk out the fruity filling. Apples, blackberries and strawberries are current faves. I often freeze my rhubarb and I’m pleased to report that frozen fruit works really well in this crumble – there’s no need to defrost it first!
The other thing I love about this pud (apart from it being so delicious of course) is that it’s so quick and easy to prepare. There’s hardly any prep and you don’t need to cook or stew the fruit first, you just chuck the fruit and the topping in the dish and away you go!
Also full disclaimer, we’re the kind of people who like our crumbles to have a very high crumble to fruit ratio, if you like your crumble the other way round or more of a balance, just reduce the quantities for the topping (but honestly, it’s so scrumptious you might regret it!) or just add more fruit!
What are your thoughts on the fruit to crumble ratio? And do you have an all time favourite classic pud?
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
500g rhubarb, fresh or frozen, chopped into thumb size chunks
40g caster sugar
1-2 tablespoons port (optional)
FOR THE TOPPING
100g self-raising flour
110g butter, chilled
100g rolled oats
75g brown sugar
75g chopped walnuts
How to – Traditional
- Heat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced.
- Place the rhubarb in a medium oven dish and sprinkle over the sugar and the port, if using. Toss to combine.
- Chop the butter into small cubes and place in a bowl with the flour. Rub together until you have a soft, crumbly topping.
- Add the oats, brown sugar and walnuts and mix through with your hands.
- Scatter the crumble over the fruit and bake for about 30 minutes until golden.
- Serve piping hot with custard or ice cream.
How to – Thermomix
- Heat oven to 200C/180C fan-forced.
- Place the rhubarb in a medium oven dish and sprinkle over the sugar and the port, if using. Toss to combine.
- Place all the topping ingredients into the TM bowl and mix for 10 seconds on reverse speed 4. You should have a soft crumbly topping. If necessary, mix for another 1-3 seconds.
- Scatter the crumble over the fruit and bake for about 30 minutes until golden.
- Serve piping hot with custard or ice cream.
