I am a fairly recent convert to rhubarb. I’m not sure why it took me so long. My Great Aunt Margie had a huge garden in rural Iowa that included it, but as a child I thought it was just a funny-colored celery. To my dismay, many wonderful rhubarb recipes have passed me by over the years. Not anymore.
I first started with recipes a couple years ago that were a rhubarb-strawberry combo to get a taste for it, like jam and pies. They were all good but I now have developed a taste for pure rhubarb. A couple things changed my mind. One is that my son-in-law Joe loves rhubarb. He prefers it by itself with no other added fruits.
For my first baked offering to Joe, I found a delicious-sounding recipe for a rhubarb crumble in a Chicago Tribune Food Guide, clipped it out and set aside for when I found some rhubarb. Lo and behold, not long after my friend Jean called and offered some from her garden. Once again while reading the Tribune Sunday paper a while back, on the cover of the Parade magazine insert was one of my favorite actors, Liam Neeson, with an interview inside. One of the questions asked of him was if he had a guilty pleasure. He replied that he loves getting up at 2:30 am and eating a rhubarb crumble. Okay, that was enough for me. I went and found that recipe I had clipped earlier and got to work.
It was Joe-approved as delicious! I hope Liam would think so too.
The crumble is so nice and crispy and a scoop of vanilla ice cream is perfect.
I’ll hurry and post another rhubarb recipe in a couple days as it will be hard to find fresh soon.
- Filling:
- 6-1/2 cups rhubarb cut into 1-inch cubes (about 2 pounds)
- 1-1/4 cups granulated white sugar
- 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated or brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
- pinch of ground ginger
- pinch of cinnamon
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces
- ½ cup finely chopped pistachios (optional)
- For the filling:
- Toss the rhubarb cubes with sugar and flour; set aside and let macerate while you make the topping, about 20 minutes.
- For the topping:
- Put flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, ginger, and cinnamon in a bowl; stir together. Add butter and work into flour with fingers or a fork as if making pie dough. The mixture will be loose and crumbly. Stir in the pistachios, if using.
- To Bake:
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Transfer sugared rhubarb to a 9-inch baking dish, about 3-inches deep. Sprinkle topping loosely over fruit. Place dish on a baking sheet to catch drippings and bake for about 1 hour, until topping is golden and filling is visibly bubbly at the edges. Cool slightly, then scoop up and enjoy with vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream.
great rhubarb recipe!
Thanks, Lisa! It was really good.
Happy to see you posting, Debbie – hoping all is well. Congratulations on beautiful Eliza!
I have never cooked rhubarb but this might just inspire me to try it.
Thank you, Janice! I am guessing many future blogs will have Eliza photos. This recipe could be a good start to your rhubarb cooking.
That look dellicious! I love rhubarb desserts. My mother-in-law made the best strawberry rhubarb pie. I wish I had her recipe.
Madonna, an old Sphere has a recipe for a strawberry-rhubarb tart. I’ll send it to you if I come across it.
Hello Debbie!
I’m happy to have you as part of “Team Rhubarb”! Ha! I imagine your Aunt Margie would be pleased as well.
Even better than your delicious sounding/looking recipe? Reading your thoughts and seeing your artistic photos today! Thanks for sharing. I’m already looking forward to your next recipe featuring rhubarb. : )
(The pistachios are an intriguing addition. Did you use them?)
Denise, Aunt Margie would definitely be pleased I finally joined “Team Rhubarb!” I didn’t add the pistachios because I didn’t happen to have any on hand. Next time!
At my house, it would be safer not to use the nuts in the crust. But if it was only for me, I think it would be fun to try – if I had them onhand. I think one of the great things about growing rhubarb is that you can usually easily whip up dessert or another dish w what you have on hand. We keep ours watered and picked and it does well for most of the summer.
Denise, it’s great without the nuts. I didn’t use them and didn’t miss them.
Rhubarb is not just for dessert. Beekman 1802 Heirloom Vegetable cookbook has a Chicken Marsala recipe that is baked and finished off with some rhubarb pieces cooked in butter and added to the sauce. It is wonderful!
Thanks for the heads up, Judith. That sounds so good!