Easy Rhubarb And Apple Crumble

September and October is the season for rhubarb and apples and what better way to use them is in a super easy dish of rhubarb and apple crumble.

INGREDIENTS 

• 600 g Rhubarb, chopped into chunks
• 450 g Apples, peeled and chopped into chunks
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 170 g Caster Sugar

Crumble Topping

• 400 g Plain Flour
• 2 tsp Ground Ginger
• 200 g Butter
• 140 g Light Soft Brown Sugar

HOW TO MAKE RHUBARB AND APPLE CRUMBLE

• Heat oven at 180°c Fan Oven or Gas 6. Toss the Rhubarb, Apples, Vanilla and Sugar together in a oven proof dish and roast for 10 minutes.
• Mix the flour and ginger in a bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips to create chucky breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
• Sprinkle on top of the fruit and cook for a further 35 minutes until golden brown.
• Serve with custard, ice cream or cream.

WHAT IS A CRUMBLE?

A crumble is a dish that can be made in a sweet or savoury version, although the sweet version is much more common. A sweet variety usually contains stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat (usually butter), flour, and sugar.

The savoury versions use meat, vegetables and sauce for the filling, with cheese replacing sugar in the crumble mix. The crumble is baked in an oven until the topping is crisp. The dessert variety is often served with ice cream, cream, or custard. The savoury variety can be served with vegetables.

Crumbles became popular in Britain during World War II when the topping was an economical alternative to pies due to shortages of pastry ingredients as the result of rationing. To further reduce the use of flour, fat and sugar, breadcrumbs or oatmeal could be added to the crumble mix. The dish was also popular due to its simplicity.

DESSERTS FOR BARBEQUES

This recipe is ideal for barbeques. You can make these the day before in foil trays and easily heat them up on top of your barbeque. They don’t have to be super hot, but just enough to melt a dollop of ice cream.

Use a large roasting foil tray for this recipe.

DO I NEED TO PEEL THE RHUBARB FOR THE CRUMBLE?

No, there is no need to peel them just chop the top and bottom off and wash thoroughly. Make sure there are no leaves in there, as these are poisonous. Chop into little 2cm chucks for your crumble.

DO I NEED TO PRE-COOK THE RHUBARB?

I roast the fruit for 10 minutes in this recipe before adding the crumble. You might like to try my Rhubarb and Elderflower traybake, as you don’t need to pre-cook the Rhubarb!

WHAT OTHER FRUIT GOES WITH RHUBARB

Apart from apples, these are other variations you could have:

• Pear and Rhubarb
• Apple, gooseberry and Rhubarb
• Rhubarb and gooseberry
• Blackberry and Rhubarb
• Ginger and Rhubarb
• Vanilla and Rhubarb
• Strawberry and Rhubarb
• Rhubarb and Elderflower
• Apple and Pear
• Apple and Blueberry

If you like apples, you will love this Apple Pie Cake recipe HERE.

WHAT INGREDIENTS DO I NEED FOR A CRUMBLE TOPPING?

For the crumble topping, you will need four simple ingredients:

400g Plain Flour

2tsp Ginger

200g Butter

140g Light Soft Brown Sugar

GLUTEN-FREE AND DAIRY-FREE RHUBARB AND APPLE CRUMBLE

Make this crumble gluten-free by using gluten-free flour. I suggest adding some oat bran to give it a more crumbly texture. Instead of using butter, use a vegan alternative.

STORING FRUIT CRUMBLE

You can store it in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days. Just make sure it’s well-covered or in a container.

Crumbles freeze well. When baking, use foil trays, then leave to cool and seal with a lid. Label with a freezer pen and store in the freezer for 3 months.

They can be put in the oven at 160 degrees straight from frozen, just remove the lid and cook until heated through or you can defrost and heat in the oven for about 20 minutes.