A couple of weekends ago I went strawberry picking with my friends and ended up with a surplus of strawberries. Even after making strawberry shortcake and strawberry jam I still had lots left over. These were eaten, but seeing them in my fridge before my family devoured them inspired me to make some strawberry rhubarb crumble.
I developed this recipe a few months ago when I was taking my costing class and being that it’s strawberry and rhubarb season it seemed like the perfect time to make it.
Never cooked with rhubarb before? Don’t be intimidated. It couldn’t be easier. For this recipe, all you do is cut it up, mix it together with a couple of ingredients, put it in a pie dish then throw it in the oven. See? Easy.
I just remade this and made mini crumbles using 4 cocottes (ramekins will work too). If you’re going to make mini crumbles, cut the strawberries and rhubarb into slightly smaller slices and cut down on the baking time.
Rhubarb and strawberries go together like peanut butter & jelly, milk & cookies, cheese & wine. See where I’m going with this? Together they are perfect. The sweet strawberries balance out the slightly tart rhubarb and they come together in an explosion of beautiful flavours. Okay, I’m gonna stop now. I might start drooling on my keyboard.
This crumble can be served hot or cold. Personally I like to heat it up and pour piping hot Bird’s custard over it. Yummmmm. It’s also good by itself or topped with some cream but if I were you I would try it with the custard. You won’t be disappointed.
I have one final standing between me and three weeks of glorious freedom. The first thing I’m going to do is cater a retirement event for one of my favourite high school teachers. I’m so excited! I’ll definitely be letting you all know how it goes. He’s quite the popular guy so I have a feeling lots of food will be needed 🙂 I’ll also be fitting in some World Cup viewing. I went through every possible emotion in front of friends and random strangers when England played Italy on Saturday and I’m looking forward to them kicking some more butt in their next two games against Uruguay and Costa Rica.
Here’s the recipe. Enjoy!
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
Ingredients
- Topping:
- 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- 3 tbsp. brown sugar
- 1 stick (4 oz.) butter, melted
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon (ground)
- Filling:
- 1 lb. rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 lb. strawberries, quartered
- Juice from 1 lemon (or 3 tbsp. lemon juice)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp. cornstarch
- Pinch of salt
Directions
- Step 1 Make your topping. Whisk flour, baking powder and both sugars together. Add the melted butter, vanilla and cinnamon, mixing together with a fork until “crumbles” form.
- Step 2 Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Step 3 In a mixing bowl, combine the rhubarb and strawberries with the lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Put mixture into a pie dish. If you’re using mini cocottes or ramekins, divide mixture evenly between 4 cocottes/ramekins.
- Step 4 Cover the fruit mixture thickly and evenly with your crumble. Place on a baking tray to catch any spills and bake for 40-50 minutes (30-35 minutes if making mini crumbles), until fruit is bubbling and the crumble is golden brown. {If you think your topping is cooking too quickly compared to your fruit, cover with foil}
- Step 5 Serve warm or room temperature with custard or cream.
