Making Winter - Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble

Crumble is my perfect winter pudding. At first I thought it was a bit obvious, but then it is obvious because it is so perfect. 

It's quick to make, economical, versatile. You need the minimum of kitchen kit to make it, and you can change the fruit and spices depending on the time of year. Apple and pear with cinnamon and brown sugar in the autumn. Mincemeat with orange zest for a Christmas crumble. Peach and strawberry for a summery crumble to eat with vanilla ice cream. 

Today I have chosen rhubarb crumble because rhubarb is in season at the moment, and also because it is John's favourite.This recipe is my contribution to the excellent Making Winter Project on the lovely silverpebble blog.

The crumble topping recipe is my Mum's. It was given to me in imperial but I've included metric weights too. 

You need:

rhubarb (I used three large sticks but the amount depends on the size and shape of the dish you use)

1 tsp ground ginger (or you could grate some fresh ginger if you have some)

5 ox/150g sugar (plus some extra to sprinkle on top of the fruit)

4 oz/110g plain flour

4 oz/110g oats

4 oz/110g butter

The recipe is very approximate. You could use more flour and less oats if you don't like oats in your crumble topping. I mix this with my fingers and add ingredients depending on how wet or dry the mixture feels.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Wash the rhubarb and chop into 1 inch or 3 cm chunks. 

Sprinkle with sugar (I used two generous tablespoons as rhubarb is very tart, but I would use less, or none, for other fruits). 

Cook the rhubarb for a few minutes to soften in the microwave or on the hob. Make the crumble mixture by combining the flour, oats, sugar and butter in a bowl by hand, or in a food mixer if you prefer, until it looks like breadcrumbs.

Put the fruit into the oven dish. Sprinkle over half the ground ginger, and put the rest in the crumble mixture. Cover the fruit with the crumble and bake for 35 to 45 minutes.

Serve with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream.

We ate ours with custard. I had intended to make my own custard but life and an ill two year old got in the way.