Rhubarb and Apple Crumble

Can a baking week get any better than this?!  It started last Friday and Saturday with Rhubarb muffins and then a fresh Summer Rhubarb and Strawberry Cake with Almond Buttercream... and then there was more!  Leftover rhubarb sitting in the fridge, just waiting for a day that wasn't filled with work and unpacking boxes... I couldn't wait to bake again with this rhubarb and so here it is - this week's bake:  Rhubarb and Apple Crumble, with a nice thick crumble and of course served with cream!

 

 

Now I searched my now unpacked recipe books for a crumble recipe either for apple or rhubarb, but I didn't quite find what I was looking for.  I knew that I wanted the fruit to be pre-cooked before baking the crumble - I love a super soft, apple sauce type bottom half to the crumble so searching the recipes for one with stewed fruit was the first challenge... Then, of course the crumble.  Ah crumble.  I didn't want to skimp on any of the crumble topping so I kind of made that one up as well, making sure that I had plenty to go around :-) 

So, in researching around 15 recipes, I kind of came up with my own based on all of these varying crumble recipes, and here it is!...

Ingredients:

800g stewed fruit - 3 large apples and a big handful of rhubarb stalks to equal 800g - the balance of which is your choice! 
100g granulated sugar
1 tbsp water

200g plain flour
80g ground almonds
170g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into chunks
100g golden caster sugar
Pinch of salt

Method:

1.  Peel, core and cut the apples into small chunks.  Cut the rhubarb into equal sized pieces.

2.  Place the fruit into a large pan, add the water and sugar and cook on a medium heat with the lid on - leaving it covered and simmering for around 15 minutes, until the fruit has begun to soften.

3.  After the fruit has stewed for around 15 minutes, remove the lid and leave on a very low heat, stirring occasionally until it thickens and the liquid disappears.

  4.  Once the fruit has thickened up, spoon into your chosen dishes (lightly greased).  I used a medium sized oval dish and also 2 ramekins - just to make sure there was a taste test for that very evening!

 

5.  Time for the crumble!  Preheat your oven to 350°F.

 

6.  Put the flour, ground almonds and chilled butter into a mixing bowl and using your fingertips, mix the butter into the flour until your mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.  I also use a pastry blender for this - it's my favourite tool for getting a great breadcrumb consistency!

7.  Add the sugar and using a fork, stir together until you have a crumbly mixture.

8.  Spoon the crumble on top of the stewed fruit already in the dishes.  Pat down gently to smooth the top but do not press it down. 

9.  Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and bubbling.   

 

10.  Serve warm and enjoy with cream, or ice cream!

 

  

 

Now I recently acquired my sister's old and spare iphone (teehee!) so it's a great life of blackberry work phone, and iphone for camera and instagram!  It works especially for those, I need to you eat you now and don't want to get the camera out moments but I have now realised the quality isn't as good as the DSLR is of course - but it does the job and I'm excited to have it!  Thanks sis!

 

 

Did you see my sneak peek on Instagram?  Well my husband and I enjoyed our trial crumbles one evening as the perfect taste test and then we enjoyed the main crumble with friends on Friday night :-)  There was definitely enough crumble, and the rhubarb was just tart enough to complement the sweet apple and sweet buttery crumble for it to be a winner!  Will bake again!

 

I hope my 2 farm fresh rhubarb posts this week and last have inspired you to search out some fresh rhubarb from your garden, your neighbour's allotment or from the local farm market like I did ... it definitely wont be the last time I bake with rhubarb this Summer :-)

My first pie!

There always has to be a first try.  And this time it was my first try at a pie!  We were heading over to our friend's place for the evening and I of course offered to bring a dessert - an excuse to try something new out :-)  However there was one catch - our friends were half way through their Lent of being vegan!!!  Hmm, no eggs, milk, cheese, anything you would usually find in baking!  Eek...what to do.  I was searching recipes but wasn't sure about preparing something specifically using vegan ingredients - so many different powders, milks crazy stuff I had never heard of.  And then the thought came to me, I could use a vegan shortening in a pie.  That would be the only substitution necessary but no butter or egg wash on top of the crust but I thought I'd give it a try and see how it went.

I think using the vegan shortening did effect the crust a bit but the taste was good and the filling wasn't effected by anything and I think we all enjoyed it!  

The next pie I make I will try with butter in the crust to see if there's a difference.  

I used this recipe here as well as her vegan pie crust link you'll find on there.  I loved the combination of pear and blueberries and the filling was nice and gooey.  So my crust isn't as pro looking as the one on her website but oh well - first try!

So some of the pastry was a little crumbly pre-cooking.

I seem to be missing a photo or two of the cooked pie so this is all I'm able to post right now but I'm pleased with how my first pie went and look forward to more pie-making soon :-)