Classic Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

We enjoy this classic strawberry rhubarb crumble at least once a summer, and despite my efforts to seriously curb my sugar intake, we’ll be having it again this year. Yes, ice cream is mandatory. 

The rhubarb plant in my vegetable garden is huge and it kills me to not use at least some of it every year. It’s hard though since we don’t eat a lot of dessert and nobody likes jam. We give some away but it tends to be a bit like zucchini, so many people with big plants, so few people who want it.

I have been making a yummy rhubarb shrug, which I am really enjoying mixed with sparkling water but even then, each recipe uses only a few cups at a time. I’ve also frozen some for smoothies later in the summer or for the fall. I don’t bother to blanch it but rather chop it and freeze it as is.

I’m on the hunt for an interesting savoury dish but so far even those have quite a bit of sugar in them.

This recipe falls firmly into 20% territory as although I use less sugar than many recipes call for, rhubarb is not particularly palatable without a bit of sweetness. That, of course, is one reason that strawberries are such a classic combo with it.

We don’t eat dessert very often and if I make something it has to be something that everyone is going to eat or else it’s just me, pigging out on the leftovers until they are done. Not good. Fruit galettes and crumbles are pretty much the only desserts I ever make since they are the only sweet dishes that Steve really enjoys.

This one uses my basic fruit pie formula. 4-5 cups fruit, 2/3 cup sugar, 2 Tbsp tapioca flour, a bit of lemon juice for brightness, a pinch of salt, and a bit of cinnamon or cardamon, and a few dabs of butter. In this case, I figured a splash of balsamic would make a nice addition in place of the lemon juice since balsamic and strawberries make such a great pairing. 

The crumble topping is one that I saved from a Fine Cooking magazine many years ago. I think it may have been paired with something other than strawberry rhubarb but is my go-to for all things fruit crumble.

To be honest, I had some topping leftover in my freezer so today I didn’t even have to make the topping. I loved that. Maybe I’ll double it up next time I’m making some and do the same again. I just mushed it around in the bag a bit to separate the chunks and poured it over my fruit mix before baking.

Into a 375° oven for about 40 minutes and this classic summer dessert is served. Ice cream, I guess, is optional – but not at our house.

I do love me a simple recipe and in this version I make no apologies for not even trying to ‘update’ a classic.

True confession; we ended up eating this before I got a chance to photograph it. So I had to make another, mini version, to shoot the final images. The great thing about that is I figured out a way to use the leftover fruit from my last batch of rhubarb shrug, and I also tried the crumble mix without the flour, making a great gluten-free option. The updated recipe is here.

Classic Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

Author: www.miasdailydish.com

A classic recipe for a traditional pairing of strawberries and rhubarb

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Ingredients

• 2 1/2 C rhubarb sliced about 1/2" thick
• 1 1/2 C strawberries quartered
• 2/3 C sugar I like organic but plain old sugar is just fine
• 2 Tbsp tapioca flour
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• pinch of salt
• 1 Tbsp hard butter cut into small pieces
• Crumble topping recipe below
• Ice cream or frozen yogurt optional, but not really!

For the crumble topping

• 1 C all purpose flour
• I C loosely packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup old fashioned not instant oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• pinch kosher salt
• 8 Tbsp cold butter cut into small pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Butter an 8" square baking dish.

Prepare crumble mix

1. Place all crumble ingredients, except for the butter, into a food processor and pulse several times to distribute the ingredients.
2. Add butter cubes and pulse again until the mixture just begins to clump together. It should be around small pea sized.
3. Set into fridge while you mix the fruit.

For the fruit

1. Gently mix all ingredients except butter together in a medium bowl until the juices from the fruit have come out just enough to barely moisten all of the sugar.
2. Pour into prepared dish and evenly distribute chunks of butter over top.
3. Sprinkle crumble more or less evenly over the top of the fruit
4. Bake for 40 minutes or until top is browned and fruit is bubbling at the sides of the dish
5. Serve with ice cream or frozen yogurt

Recipe Notes

As I discovered, this crumble mix freezes very well so make extra for the next time you want to make one.