Apple and Rhubarb Crumble

 Whenever I ask Myles if he wants dessert, his answer is always crumble or pie. He doesn't mind what the filling is, but crumble is definitely his favourite. Traditionally, crumble topping includes oats, but as oats are not gluten-free, other options are needed. Often, I swap oats for quinoa flakes, and you certainly could add quinoa to this recipe if you wanted to – I've used slivered almonds to add the texture and nutty flavour instead.

Rhubarb is an undervalued vegetable. In traditional Australian backyards, it is a staple plant, and my rhubarb crowns are in peak season at the moment. Rhubarb can be a little stringy. There are both red and green varieties – mine is red. Both work well in this recipe. Rhubarb leaves are poisonous to eat but are great in the compost.

Other variations to this recipe include apple and berries, stewed peaches or nectarines – whatever is in season. In this recipe, I have chosen to use muscovado sugar. You can, of course, replace this with brown sugar. Brown sugar is refined white sugar with molasses added back to it. Muscovado sugar is less refined, so it retains much of its molasses component. The amount of molasses determines whether it is “light” or “dark”: the darker the sugar, the more molasses it contains. The major difference between the two sugars is taste, and it’s especially noticeable in recipes where the sugar is a star ingredient.

Perfectly served with custard or ice cream – this dessert will become a family favourite. For full instructions, you can view my YouTube video at the link below.

Serves 4

• 1 kg Granny Smiths

• 5 sticks rhubarb

• 1 tsp orange zest

• 1 tbl muscovado sugar

Crumble

• 150 g almond meal

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 75 g muscovado sugar

• 30 g rice flour

• 30 g potato starch

• 60 g unsalted butter, chopped

• 40 g slivered almonds

Peel, core & roughly chop apples. Chop rhubarb into 2 cm pieces.

Place apple, orange zest, sugar in a medium sized pot with 50 ml water and gently cook until apples are soft. Add rhubarb and cook a further 5 minutes until rhubarb is beginning to soften.

Preheat oven 160°C (fan forced)

Place all crumble ingredients except almonds in a food processor and pulse until it resembles bread crumbs.

Gently toast almonds. 

Reserve 2 tbl of almonds and stir the remainder into crumble mixture.

Place fruit in a buttered 4 cup dish (or 4 individual dishes).

Cover with crumble, sprinkle reserved almonds on top and bake for 25 minutes until golden.

Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream or custard :)

Updated July 2023