Rhubarb & apple crumble

Rhubarb & apple crumble

Classic crumble just like your mother used to make - only so much better

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 20 mins

Method

  1. For the fruit filling, pull any tough strands of skin off the rhubarb - don't peel it completely or you won't have any colour left. Cut the stalks into fairly chunky pieces so they keep their shape and don't end up as a purée when you cook them. Peel and core the apples and cut them into similar sized chunks; we use equal quantities of each to balance the flavour.
  2. Melt a knob of butter in a pan and sauté the fruit to drive off any extra water. If you don't do this now it will release a flood of liquid into the crumble and make it soggy. Add the cinnamon and honey, grate in the ginger and keep cooking until all the liquid has evaporated. Add a slosh of crème de cassis to add a bit of colour to the rhubarb - not too much, though, or you will overwhelm the flavour. Cooking the fruit right through at this stage means all you have to cook at the end are the crumble toppings, which is great if you are serving them at a dinner party, as you can finish them off in the oven during the main course.
  3. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Tip the flour into a bowl along with the hazelnuts and roughly chop in the remaining butter. Rub everything together gently to make it into crumbs and then stir through the sugar.
  4. Divide the fruit between 4 individual dishes and sprinkle the crumble mixture over the top. Don't pack it down, just let it take shape naturally. Bake for 15-20 minutes until nicely browned on top. We like to serve this crumble with clotted cream or, my personal favourite, crème fraîche.
Try

Giving crumble a modern twist

Crumble is a fantastic pudding and everyone loves it. Give it a modern twist by adding a bit of fruit liqueur and some spices or herbs. Lemon thyme would add fragrance to the rhubarb. Or, try adding fresh basil.

Recipe from olive magazine, March 2005.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo amyla85

    19 April 2009

    amyla85 rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Very easy to make, and lovely and thick from cooking down the fruit first. The hazelnuts are delicious, and the ginger adds some real interest. The amount of crumble topping may be a little over the top- I cut out quite a lot of the butter.

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  • Binder photo jessabelle

    14 May 2010

    jessabelle commented on this recipe

    Far too much butter, would suggest adding less. I had to add tons more flour in order to rub the butter in. Other than that it was delicious!

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  • Binder photo elf11

    25 March 2011

    elf11 commented on this recipe

    Quite nice but I have had better. I also had to add loads of flour to soak up the butter, which was a mistake, as it made the crumble too floury. I also prefer a ratio of around 1:3 crumble to fruit, where as this is more crumble than fruit.

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  • Binder photo Frantic Flapjack

    12 April 2011

    Frantic Flapjack rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    After the above comments, I used the fruit filling from this recipe and the topping from this one http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1139654/oaty-apple-crumble. I couldn't get the fruit mixture to "dry off" when sauteing and so ended up with overcooked rhubarb. The end result was okay though as the apple kept its shape well and the topping was very good.

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  • Binder photo fionadarling

    08 May 2011

    fionadarling commented on this recipe

    Not a fan, far too much butter and the rhubarb ended up stewed. The ginger and cinnamon are nice and warming but hardly a revelation! "Like your mother used to make - only so much better"? Um, no.

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  • Binder photo Eli

    01 September 2011

    Eli commented on this recipe

    The recipe is vague and some specificity to the actual amounts of rhubarb, other optional choices for the apples and the rough size of dishes or dish to be used would be better. A serious lacking for the recipe is sugar, if you don't cook rhubarb with some sugar it will be very bitter when cooked. Be sure to add two or three spoons of sugar to the pot when you are "stewing" rather than "saute-ing" the rhubarb and apples as the honey is definitely not enough to sweeten it adequately...

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  • Binder photo Blondie

    08 September 2011

    Blondie rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Tasty recipe and the spices were good with the fruit, but again I agree there was far too much butter in the topping - if only I'd read the comments above before making it I might not have had such a lumpy topping! My rhubarb was also too stewed - next time I will saute the apples for a little while first before adding the rhubarb. I'll make it again though, just needs a few tweaks and then it might get a 4.5 or a 5* rating!

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 20 mins

Ingredients

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