Recipe: Rhubarb Crumble

I do love a good bit of crumble. In fact, who doesn't love a good bit of crumble? No one, that's who. You can make crumble with just about any fruit, but my favourite is definitely rhubarb. Rhubarb crumble always reminds me of my childhood; we used to have some rhubarb growing at the bottom of the garden and for a few weeks every summer all I ate was rhubarb fool, stewed rhubarb and, of course, rhubarb crumble.

This rhubarb crumble is literally the easiest thing you could ever bake. It only takes about 15 minutes to prepare, then you can leave it in the oven and forget about it. Well, not completely forget about, but you can go and do something else for half an hour! It's the perfect comfort food and is super tasty too. Even my flatmate, who doesn't like rhubarb, said it was really good. This recipe makes about 4-6 portions, depending on your portion size!

Ingredients:

For the filling: 400g rhubarb 80g caster sugar 3 tbsp Xante Pear Cognac (optional)

For the topping: 140g self-raising flour 85g butter 50g light brown muscovado sugar 50g rolled oats (optional)

Method:

1. Switch the oven on to 200°C. Chop the rhubarb into chunks (around 1 inch or so).
2. Add the rhubarb to a pan along with the sugar and pear cognac. The pear cognac helps to give the rhubarb an extra bit of sweetness and fruitiness, but you could easily swap it for normal cognac or brandy (or leave it out altogether if you prefer).
3. Put the pan on a low heat, cover with a lid and simmer for around 10 minutes until the rhubarb has softened. You still want it to keep it's shape a bit though so don't stew it completely. If you find it's not sweet enough, you can add a little more sugar at this stage.
4. Once soft and sweet enough, tip the rhubarb mixture into an ovenproof dish and set to one side.
5. In a large bowl, rub the flour and butter together with your fingers until you have a rough breadcrumb-like consistency. Then add in the sugar and rolled oats if using. You could also use chopped nuts or something similar to give the topping an extra bit of crunch.
6. Spoon the topping onto the rhubarb mixture to create an even layer. Sprinkle a little bit of muscovado sugar on top and then put in the oven for around 30 minutes, or until golden brown on top and bubbling at the sides.
7. Serve with some whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

After writing up this post, I'm already in the mood to make another one of these! I love the tartness of the rhubarb with the sweet, buttery crumble topping - yum! What's your favourite kind of crumble?

Gillian x