大象传媒

by Emily Scott of St. Tudy鈥檚 Inn, Bodmin, Cornwall

Baked rhubarb tarted up with orange and a squeeze of honey.

Nothing smells better than a crumble whatever the season, a crumbly buttery lid to cover the first blackberries or apples, pears, stone fruits, berries, or the last plums of the season.

Rhubarb is technically a vegetable the high acid content makes it work better in sweet rather than savoury dishes and it needs sweetening but needs consideration to get the sweet sharp balance right. At this time of year forced rhubarb is available paler and softer in flavour than the stronger variety that comes later in the year.听 Rhubarb is wonderful with orange zest, vanilla, rosewater, ginger, honey and earthy herbs like thyme or rosemary and particularly delicious with strawberries. Simply poached or lightly roasted, rhubarb is a winner.

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Serves 4-6

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Prep time 20 mins

Cooking time 30-40 mins

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Ingredients

750g rhubarb, trimmed

Juice of 1 orange and zest

1 tablespoon of runny honey or 50g golden caster sugar

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For the crumble crust:

200g plain flour

90g soft brown sugar

75g ground almonds

180g unsalted butter, cold

50g oats

2L capacity pie dish (roughly 28x18x4cm rectangular, or 23x23x4cm square, or 30x4cm circular)

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Method

Set the oven at 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4.

Wash the rhubarb and cut into 2cm pieces.

Place in an oven-proof dish.

Squeeze the orange juice and zest over the rhubarb, and drizzle with the honey or sprinkle with the caster sugar.

Place the flour and the sugar in a bowl and rub in the butter to resemble coarse breadcrumbs.

Stir in the almonds and oats and then scatter over the fruit to cover.

Bake in the oven for 30-40 mins until the crumble is golden, bubbling and the fruit is deliciously tender.听

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or custard.