Fruits of Labor: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

I live for Rhubarb season. Its always a short window at the edges between spring and summer and, especially in Europe, rhubarb seems to dominate the menu. What I love most about rhubarb is, with a little attention, its austerity transforms into something unique and decadently wonderful. 

This recipe is for crumble. A classic that suits the casual nature of summer cooking while yielding sumptuous results. Because of the simpleness of the recipe use only the best quality ingredients & pair with a scoop of the best vanilla ice cream you can find. 

Simply put. This recipe is a 1-1-1, mix & bake. 

About 10 stalks of the reddest rhubarb. Scrubbed and cut into 3inch chunks  
1 pint of strawberries. Hulled & sliced thickly 
1 Orange. Juiced & zested
1 cup of sugar. 

Mix these ingredients in a bowl & let stand. The sugar is really up to taste. I like mine to retain some of the tartness of the rhubarb. But, I also recommend tasting a small slice of the rhubarb to see how tart or sweet it is. You may need more or less sugar. 

For the crust. 
1 cup of whole meal flour
1 cup of quick cook oatmeal 
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of butter (or a 1/2 pound) 
1 tsp of salt 

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Dice butter into small cubes and add to dry mixture. Rub butter & dry ingredients together with fingertips until it is combined and forms small pea sized granules. You can also pulse together in a food processor. 

Spread Rhubarb mixture evenly over the bott0m of a shallow baking dish. Add topping in an even layer over the mixture. Bake at 350℉ 170℃ for aprox 45 minutes or until top is golden and sides are bubbling. 

a sweet spoonful

at each turn of the season there are particular things that i am really excited for- fiddlehead ferns for example and pea tendrils in spring....and rhubarb. im wild about is the first delicate stalks of rhubarb - my most favorite dessert in the world has to be warm rhubarb compote over really good (even preferably homemade) vanilla ice-cream. simple to the point goodness. 

i was delighted to stumble across A Sweet Spoonful . Megan is an oakland based food blogger and im dying to try some of her recipes. i love that she is local since that means we will be on the same growing schedule and uses local produce in her recipes! she has recently posted two rhubarb recipes: a rhubarb compote and a gorgeous rustic strawberry rhubarb pie. 

megan's photographs are so inspiring - the rustic pie just might have to be the first thing i make in my new kitchen. do take a look over at a sweet spoonful 






all images courtesy of a sweet spoonful