When I see rhubarb stalks in the market it’s a splendid sign that the seasons are turning. I love those those ruby red slender stalks, which share their crimson shade so beautifully when cooked. Fantasies of chutneys and crisps immediately come to mind. Today I’m going to share my classic crisp recipe. It takes less than 15 minutes to put together, and it will emerge, bubbling from your oven in 55 minutes. Your home will smell divine.
A Rhubarb Crisp is a delightfully easy way to enjoy this unique, tart, flavorful delicacy, in this case I’ve also thrown in a few sweet strawberries as well. While rhubarb is my starting point, please don’t think of stopping there because this crisp recipe will serve you well all summer long. As the season goes on, replace the rhubarb with blueberries, blackberries, peaches, apricots, apples and/or pears, or any combination thereof.
I was invited to a weekend away recently, and asked my hostess if she’d like me to make a crisp for dinner one night, yes she said definitively. So I mixed up all the dry ingredients to bring with me and made sure she had an egg and a stick of butter for me to put it all together with ease when the time came.
Rhubarb is a dramatic-looking plant — huge green leaves, 3-5 feet wide and tall. Though usually prepared like a fruit, it is actually a vegetable. It’s commonly grown for its tart stalks which shine in both sweet and savory dishes, but it makes an impressive ornamental plant if you have the space. Stunning as they are, those leaves contain oxalic acid crystals which are highly toxic ~ so admire them, but don’t eat them.
Growing up, we had a large rhubarb patch. I used to love pushing back the gigantic green leaves to find a forest of bright red stalks to harvest. We would chop up the rhubarb, add as much sugar as felt right and cook it for about five minutes until it was just tender, but still a little chunky.
Ingredients
serves 6
topping
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 cup {1 stick} salted butter, melted
filling
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 4 cups sliced fruit {I used 3 cups of chopped rhubarb and 1 cup chopped strawberries}
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. {Lazy lady tip: put the stick of butter in an oven safe container and melt it in the oven}.
Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, ginger and cinnamon, toss together. Pour in the melted butter and blend together until crumbly.
In a small bowl, mix together the egg, flour, granulated sugar and vanilla. Chop the fruit (we like to chop the fruit in irregular sizes, so the finished crisp has both chunky and tender pieces) and place in a medium-sized bowl.
Pour the egg mixture in and stir until the rhubarb is evenly coated with egg. Spoon the fruit mixture into a 10″ round baking dish, then smooth it lightly into an even layer.
Spoon the topping over the rhubarb and roughly smooth it (we like to leave some high points and low points, to create plenty of crunchy bits!)
Place it towards the back of the pre~heated oven and set the timer to 55 minutes. Remove the bubbly goodness from the oven and try to restrain yourself!
Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes ( I know, it’s hard to wait, but it will be too soft if you don’t). Serve warm or at room temperature.
I served the crisp with dollops of crème fraîche, looking out at the beautiful views of the orchard and river, a warm breeze was drifting across the deck. It was the perfect conclusion to a splendid day with fun friends.
