A crumble is the British name for a blend of berries or other fruit with a textured sugary topping, often with oats; basically what Americans call a crisp.
My Mum didn’t bake that much when we were growing up, but she could whip up a pretty dang good apple crumble – one of my all-time favourite desserts! We always had ours served with Greek yoghurt (the full fat variety, please!) and this particular crumble is excellent served like that since the creamy, cold yoghurt compliments the tartness of the rhubarb a treat. Alternatively, serve with custard which is the proper British way to do it!
I’ve never bought rhubarb before this weekend so I was excited to try it out like this. Crumble is such a classic. I still have a pound of the stuff left, so stay tuned for round two! I must say that the ginger did not shine through as I’d hoped so I would recommend upping the half teaspoon to at least one.
Ginger oat rhubarb crumble
by Sarah Brown for The Guardian
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups flour and oats (a mixture of brown and white flour with a handful of oats is best – and keep a few oats to one side to sprinkle on top for added crunch)
- 3.5 tbsp low-fat margarine
- 3.5 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, plus 3 extra tbsp
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 lb rhubarb, washed and cut into small chunks
- 2/3 cup cooking apple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
Directions
- Heat the oven to 390F.
- Add the flour, margarine and butter to a big mixing bowl and rub together through your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs (half margarine/half butter combines good health with best taste, but you can adjust the proportions to all one or the other). Stir in the 1/4 cup sugar and ½ teaspoon of ginger into the crumble topping.
- Load the rhubarb and apple into a pie dish. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of brown sugar over the fruit and a tiny dash of water. Pile the crumble mixture over the fruit, smoothing over to make a flat surface without pressing down too hard. Sprinkle a few extra oats on the top.
- Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes until the crumble top is golden and you can just see the fruit bubbling and sugar caramelising at the edges.
- You can serve the crumble straightaway but it is also good cold if you have any left over the next day. Once the summer starts, apple and raspberry makes a great crumble, but enjoy the rhubarb while it is here.
