Rhubarb-Ginger Crumble
After an entire winter of eating bananas, apples and pears, I love nothing more than walking into the grocery store on a sunny April day and seeing juicy red strawberries, melons and, of course, rhubarb. Rhubarb is a quintessential spring fruit, especially in my little area of the world. It typically comes into season during March or April (depending on the growing season) and is gone in what seems like the blink of an eye. Since its window is so small, I try to take advantage of rhubarb at least once during the spring season. In past seasons, I’ve made a rhubarb crumb cake, a strawberry-rhubarb pie (one of my Chief Culinary Consultant’s favorites!) and rhubarb pie tartlets. I’ve been wanting to play around with the flavor combination of rhubarb and ginger, and this was the perfect recipe for it. Simple, easy and it will get you in the mood for summer!
I had been swooning over The Country Cooking of Ireland cookbook since it won a James Beard Award for cookbook of the year back in 2010. I purchased it with the intent of learning more about traditional Irish cooking (which I have!). Not surprisingly, I was completely drawn in by the desserts section of the book. Not because they were elaborate, exquisite pastry masterpieces, but in fact, quite the opposite. The desserts were uncomplicated, rustic in nature, and made in such a way to allow the important flavors to shine in each dish. Such is the case with this rhubarb-ginger crumble.
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This crumble has an ingredient list that is only 6 items long and can be assembled in less than 15 minutes. While preparing it, I felt a sense of simplicity, in how many women spent time in the kitchen decades before stand mixers and food processors were must-have items. Instead, this simple crumble focuses on what’s important – the food and who you’re sharing it with. Chop up the fruit, mince up ginger for some additional flavor, sprinkle with sugar, then top with a simple crumb mixture of only flour, sugar and butter.
After going all-out with things like six-layer chocolate cake and an elaborate Snickers cake, my taste buds and my food-loving soul have been begging for simplicity. I’ve found it this week in chocolate mousse, this rhubarb-ginger crumble and some biscuits that I’ll be sharing with you tomorrow.
Do you have a favorite rhubarb recipe for this time of year?
One year ago: DIY Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
Two years ago: Best Ever Potato Salad
Four years ago: Pigu (Italian Gougeres)
Rhubarb-Ginger Crumble
Ingredients
- 2 pounds (907.18 g) rhubarb stalks, rinsed, ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 2½ cups (500 g) granulated sugar, divided
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- Pinch of salt
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, toss together the rhubarb and ginger. Transfer to a 2 or 3 quart baking dish and sprinkle 2 cups of the sugar over top of the rhubarb mixture; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, remaining sugar and salt. Add the butter and use a pastry blender (or two knives or your fingers) to cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal and the butter pieces are no larger than the size of a pea. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the rhubarb.
- Bake until the topping is golden brown, the rhubarb mixture is bubbling and the rhubarb is soft, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool slightly; the crumble can be served warm or at room temperature. Top with ice cream or fresh whipped cream, if desired.
Notes
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Made this and it was really good. Next time I’ll add a tablespoon of cornstarch to the sugar to thicken the juices and lessen the total amount of sugar.
I made this last year for the husband’s birthday, and we both devoured it. The vanilla ice cream was scooped on top while it was still warm and made for a yummy bite of melted vanilla and rhubarb and ginger. Didn’t last long throughout the week! I will most definitely be making it again this year. The minced ginger was key!
Sooo yummy! And so easy! I just use my fingers to make the crumble, too easy:) My first ever rhubarb recipe. But I grew up with my mother using it all the time…
I love to take advantage of rhubarb season too!! I was hoping to bake something wth it pretty soon, so I was wondering of your 5 rhubarb recipes, which one do you like the most or think is the absolute best/most flavorful?
Hi Joanna, I would choose the rhubarb crumb cake or the strawberry-rhubarb pie, mostly because I love crumb toppings and pie crusts :)
Delicious….but luckily I reduced the sugar to 1+1/4 cup after sprinkling on 1 cup it looked a heap of sugar. Think next time I will put just a cup of sugar should be enough. Ginger and rhubarb a delish combination :)
I made this last night and my husband said it is one of the best things I’ve made yet! He knows all of my good recipes come from you! Thanks. Super easy! I added a bit more ginger for my ginger-loving husband
Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe… I love Rhubarb and ginger together! I just made this tonight for dessert, with added 1 orange zest + juice and cinnamon… served with vanilla custard. It turned out beautifully. Only thing I would change next time is to reduce the sugar. It was intensely sweet!
Lovely dish! Would you be happy to link it in to the new Food on Friday which is all about rhubarb? This is the link . I do hope to see you there. Cheers
I made this the other night and it was fantastic. Had a little trouble finding rhubarb here in New England, but when I start to see it in the store more frequently am going to have to do this again. Thanks!
Made this tonight and it was A-maz-ing!!!!! My kids and I have never tasted rhubarb before and this is definitely a recipe that’s going into my recipe box! Thanks!
In Sweden, the rhubarbs are in season from May until September, so by fall I’m pretty sick of them!
Try making a crumble with 1 stick of butter 1 1/4 cup of oats and 1/2 cup of sugar. Sprinkle it on top of rhubarbs combined with raspberries. It’s amazing!
Rhubarb is such a great spring treat. Pairing it with ginger sounds awesome. Looks perfect with the vanilla ice cream!
I live in Florida and seeing fresh rhubarb in the store is rare. I guess frozen rhubarb would work if defrosted and drained well. I bet it would be good adding mango to the rhubarb and ginger. Probably crystalized.
Your crumble sounds so delicious and it looks so inviting with the big scoops of ice cream! For some reason I’ve never tried baking with rhubarb, I think I really need to give it a go!
I am so tired of winter fruit too. It’s like wake me when the peaches and cherries are out! I love baking with rhubarb and just bought some to put to some good use too!