Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble with Orange & Ginger: Welcoming Comfort Food

Vibrant Colours of Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble Ingredients: Sliced Rhubarb, Strawberries, Brown Sugar and Orange Zest

On May 7, 2008 two friends of mine (and each other) set out on a trip around the world. They packed up their apartments and put their stuff in a relatives’ basement. Everyone thought they would come back after a year or so – sometime around then we figured the money would run out or the travel bug would fly away or they would have otherwise had their fill.

We were wrong. They travelled and travelled… and travelled… for four years and two days. They did it by horse, camel, elephant; By ostrich and rhino, motorcycle and truck. They travelled by plane, train, bus, bike and boat; By car, cable car and foot. They talked with orangutans in Malaysia and hugged sloths in Costa Rica. After visiting 52 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, South and North America they came home.

On Saturday we welcomed them with a party in their honour in Dundas, Ontario. I made them this Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble with Orange & Ginger.  I made it -because for me, it is welcoming comfort food. The travellers ate it warmed, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dessert and squirrelled some away for breakfast the next morning,  I hoped it was comforting to them –and I think it was, judging from the feverishness with which they squirrelled. To read more about the travels of these adventurous souls visit findingsheryl.com and chrisliberty.com. Welcome Back!

Raw rhubarb has a bright deep reddish pink colour and an unbelievably sour taste which transforms...

...into muted rose, golden brown and extraordinarily yummy baked crumble

Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble with Orange & Ginger Recipe

5.0 from 2 reviews

Print

Recipe type: Dessert

Author: www.savagecabbage.org

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Serves: 12

Here are a few rhubarb crumble pet peeves of mine: I like my rhubarb crumble on the tangy side. I don’t like the tartness of the rhubarb to be drowned out by sugar. Of course this is in the taste buds of the taster (rather than the eyes of the beholder ). I also prefer using organic strawberries to avoid the large amount of pesticides that conventional farms use on non-organic ones. (see the 2011 Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen™. If at all possible I also like to use fresh rhubarb from our garden or that of a friend’s because it is there and fresh. And lastly I like there to be no question in the audiences’ mind that rhubarb plays first violin and the strawberries are a supportive second fiddle. This recipe is inspired by Simply Recipe’s Rhubarb Crumble, Jamie Oliver’s Rhubarb Sticky Stem Crumble recipe and Return to Sunday Supper’s Easy Old Fashioned Apple CrispThe first time I tried making a rhubarb crumble I put too much orange zest and not enough ginger. Over flavouring with orange zest has a way of sucking the moisture from your mouth. It feels like it will never come back. After some adjustments, I reached proportions which please my taste: The zest and the ginger are in perfect balance for my liking.

Ingredients

• Filling
• 1.5 cup of organic strawberries sliced
• 2 lbs rhubarb washed and chopped (1/4 inch wide chunks)
• 1/2 cup orange juice freshly squeezed (add some orange flesh too if you like)
• 1/2 cup soft brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp peeled and finely grated ginger
• 1 tbsp finely grated orange zest

• Crumble
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1.5 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1 cup sifted flour
• 1/4 tsp salt

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Mix the filling ingredients together in a large oven safe dish.
3. Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Place the dish of filling mixture on it. Bake for 15 minutes or until the rhubarb is soft and the filling juice begins to boil.
4. While the filling is in the oven, assemble and all the crumble ingredients together except for the butter. Mix together with your hands. Slice the butter into thin slabs, cut each slab into strips and then each strip into small squares (about the size of a kernel of corn). With your fingers, separate and work each square of butter in to the dry crumble mixture.
5. Once the filling has boiled remove from the oven. Transfer filling to one or more oven safe dishes at least 1-1.5 inches deep. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over top of the hot filling. Bake again at 400 until the top is lightly browned and the filling starts to bubble up,leaking through the crumble (about 20 – 25 minutes). Check on it at 18 minutes and then every 3 minutes thereafter till it leaks through the crumble like lava oozing down a mountain.
6. Remove from the oven and let it cool for 30 minutes before serving.
7. Serve it warm; by itself or with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy.

Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe

2.2.1

Da Capo al fine. fine.

This crumble has been submitted to the kids delight fruits food blogging event at  http://uk-rasoi.blogspot.in/2012/04/kids-delight-fruits.html. It is part of the Kids Delight series of food blogging events at: http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/announcing-kids-delight-wholesome.html:

I also submitted it to the dessert event below: http://divyasculinaryjourney.blogspot.ca/2012/05/showcase-desserts.html