Rhubarb and Apple Crumble

When you think of traditional British food you might think fish and chips, roast beef and Yorkshire puddings or strawberries and cream.   I just recently learned that Rhubarb Crumble is also an iconic British dish.

I am a devout Anglophile so armed with my trusty trug I scaled the garden fence and cut a few fresh stalks of rhubarb from John's plot.  I had prior permission of course!

I am afraid I haven't developed a sense of scale when it comes to rhubarb so I was a little short of the required amount to make a rhubarb crumble.  I didn't let this deter me... I just added a fat apple to the recipe.

And these are the ingredients:

500 grams (1 pound) rhubarb or a combination of rhubarb and apple
50 ml (1/4 cup) water
100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar

Slice the rhubarb and peeled apple into smallish pieces and place them in an oven proof dish.  Pour the water over the fruit and sprinkle on the sugar.  Give it all a stir to combine the ingredients.  Set the dish to one side while you prepare the crumble topping. 

Rub together the following:

150 grams (1 cup) plain flour
50 grams (1/2 cup) rolled oats
100 grams (1/2 cup) cold butter- diced in small pieces
125 grams (3/4 cup) sugar

When the crumble mixture looks like breadcrumbs, sprinkle it over the rhubarb/apple filling.  

Place the crumble on a baking sheet lined with paper, it might bubble over.  Bake at 180C/350F for about 40 minutes or until the topping is a golden brown and the rhubarb juices are bubbling around the edges of the baking dish.

The truly traditional way to serve Rhubarb Crumble is with a rich custard.  Vanilla ice cream would be good too.   Here in Devon,  you might have a dollop of clotted cream.  I just had a bowl full of crumble warm from the oven.  

Rhubarb and apple crumble, it's the traditional taste of an English summer!