A crumble? In summer? Hear me out. Crumble is great in any season, in any place, weather or location. Crumble is one of the UK’s greatest dishes.
At Womad, my friend joked that you never see a crumble street stall. Later, wandering around the festival, we saw Crumble Shack – a street food stall selling nothing but crumble. A summer festival in the UK, no matter the weather during the day, is always going to be a bit damp and chilly at night. Crumble Shack is the answer. Late at night, you want a pud.
Crumble Shack sell a selection of stewed fruits and an array of crumble toppings, some with nuts and dried fruit. With that you get a choice of custard or ice cream. Heaven!
It’s no surprise that crumble is one of the British dishes that is most copied by the French. They make all kinds of crumble–savoury and sweet.
Over the weekend I did a bbq and made rhubarb crumple for dessert, as rhubarb was going cheap in my local supermarket. It’s the thick green summer rhubarb rather than the winter pink slim tender stalks that are grown in candlelight in Yorkshire. Roast the stalks gently in sugar then top it with crumble and bake. This time I used vanilla ice cream to top.
You could finish off the crumble in the bbq if you are using a kamado style bbq such as a Big Green Egg or one with a lid.
Rhubarb Crumble
Ingredients
- 400 g 6 long stalks of thick green rhubarb, chopped into 4cm lengths
- 150 g sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 300 g self-raising flour
- 200 g cold butter, chopped small
- 100 g brown sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C
- Lay the rhubarb in one layer in a roasting tin. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and bake for half an hour, or until tender but still holding its shape.
- In the meantime, make the crumble topping by rubbing the butter and flour together with your fingers until it's like thick sand. Add the brown sugar.
- Remove the rhubarb and place into a buttered baking tray measuring 20cm x 20cm.
- Sprinkle the crumble topping over the top and bake for half an hour or until the top is golden and bubbling.
- Serve with ice cream or custard.
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