Blackberry Rhubarb Crumble

I'm kind of obsessed with everything rhubarb right now, so when I pulled a package of blackberries out of my freezer, I went looking for a recipe that called for both blackberries and rhubarb.  I found recipes for Rhubarb and Blackberry Snack Cake, Rhubarb and Blackberry Crumble Bars, and this Blackberry Rhubarb Crumble.

Blackberry Rhubarb Crumble
adapted from theKitchn

For the fruit:

• 2 cups frozen blackberries, mostly thawed
• 4 cups frozen rhubarb, mostly thawed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch salt

For the crumble topping:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted

Directions:

1. Place the blackberries and rhubarb in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt; toss gently.
2. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs.  Mix in the vanilla and 3/4 cup brown sugar.
3. Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt and stir into egg mixture to make a clumpy dough.
4. Using your hands, drop clumps of dough evenly over the fruit.  Have some extra flour handy to clean off your hands and clean out the bowl, spreading 'crumbles' over the top of the clumps. Sprinkle the chopped pecans over the top, then pour the melted butter over everything.
5. Bake for 35 minutes at 375°F, or until the top is golden brown and the crumble is baked through. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before eating.

The original recipe called for a bit more (fresh) fruit, but I used what I had - frozen.  One of the comments said that rhubarb and blackberries are not in season at the same time, making it hard to have both at the same time.  Using frozen works very well and solves that problem.  It does not even need to be completely thawed.

I mixed the fruit, sugar, cinnamon and ginger right in the baking dish -
no need to dirty another bowl.

What surprised me - never putting rhubarb and blackberries together before - is that the blackberry flavor really comes through, even though there is twice as much rhubarb.  I did not cut the sugar down in this recipe as I normally do because Faith, who posted the original recipe said the fruit was "proudly tangy and not too sweet" and that rhubarb should not be covered up with sugar - which I completely agree with, of course.  So I took her at her word, and I think it was just right.

Fresh out of the oven

Yum!

I especially love the topping on this.  I'm pretty sure it's the brown sugar.    I'm going to have to try it with different fruits, too.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!

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Rhubarb Apple Crisp

It's Spring, which means Rhubarb!  If you're lucky enough to know somebody who has some - and even luckier to have someone willing to go cut it for you.  Oh, I would definitely go cut my own rhubarb because I love it, but my friend Peggy lives closer to our friend Alice than I do, so she gets me some when she gets hers.  I use it in muffins, rhubarb bread, this Rhubarb Pudding Cake that I adore, and pretty much anything else I can think of.  And I freeze lots of it so I can have rhubarb throughout the year.

Today I was thinking Rhubarb Apple Crisp, so I went looking for recipes - as if I don't already have plenty of my own recipes - like that pudding cake that I'm now wishing I'd remembered and made.  But anyway, I found this one for Apple-Rhubarb Crisp that looked pretty good, so I started there.  But I wanted a different topping, because my friend Peggy, who cuts the rhubarb, doesn't eat wheat, and I wanted to avoid using flour.  That's when I found the Apple Cranberry Crisp recipe in my favorite cookbook ever - The Best of Mennonite Fellowship Meals - and I had a note right there in the cookbook that the recipe is also good with rhubarb and apples, as well as a modified topping recipe - without flour.  So I used the basic idea of the recipe I'd looked up - because I liked the idea of the juice mixed in with the fruit - with the topping I had written in the cookbook.

Rhubarb Apple Crisp
adapted from About.com Southern Food and The Best of Mennonite Fellowship Meals

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chopped rhubarb (fresh or frozen)
• 3 medium apples, cored and diced
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 T. pineapple orange juice (or orange juice)
• 6 T. butter, melted
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup whole oats
• 1/3 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

ready to bake

Directions:

1. Mix rhubarb, apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and juice.  Place in 2-qt baking dish.  (or mix directly in the baking dish)
2. Mix topping ingredients - melted butter, brown sugar, oats, and pecans - until crumbly, and spread evenly over fruit.
3. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until fruit is tender and bubbly and topping is browned.
4. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Yum!

Rhubarb Raspberry Crisp

I've never tried rhubarb and raspberries together. Why? I don't know, but for some reason the idea popped into my head the other day - probably because I was thinking about what I have in my freezer and need to start using. 

So I went looking for a 'raspberry rhubarb dessert' and this is what I found. 

Rhubarb Raspberry Crisp

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cut rhubarb
• 2 cups raspberries, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into chunks

Directions:

1. In a shallow 2- to 3-quart baking dish, combine rhubarb, raspberries, granulated sugar, and cornstarch and mix gently to coat.
2. In a large bowl, mix oats, flour, nuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. With your fingers or a pastry blender, rub or cut butter into oat mixture until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle evenly over rhubarb and raspberry mixture.
3.  Bake in a 350° regular oven until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling, about 45 minutes. 

Serve warm or at room temperature.

original recipe

As noted, I used frozen rhubarb and raspberries, mostly thawed and undrained, but this would of course be great with fresh fruit, too.  I only used half the raspberries the original recipe called for and cut the sugar in the fruit down from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup because I want to taste the tartness of the rhubarb.  I think it turned out great.  A nice dollop of vanilla ice cream would be great on top, but it was yummy just by itself.

Rhubarb and raspberries go very well together.

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Rhubarb Pudding Cake

I found this recipe in the newspaper - LOVE the food section of the paper! - and I've been wanting to make it for a while.  It's been hanging on the fridge since I found it.  Thanks to my sweet friend Peggy, I have plenty of rhubarb (not that I wouldn't take more if it came available), so I made it last week.  It was so good, I had to make it again this week for potluck.

Rhubarb Pudding Cake

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar (divided)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• ½ cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 cups (1-inch-thick) sliced rhubarb (about 1 pound)
• 1 teaspoon powdered sugar (optional)

Directions:

1.  Place butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add 2/3 cup granulated sugar; beat until well blended.  Add vanilla and egg, beat well, then add milk.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Beat into butter mixture until smooth.
3. Combine rhubarb and remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon batter over rhubarb mixture.
4. Bake in preheated 350° oven 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. 
5. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if desired.

 The notes on the recipe said:

If fresh rhubarb isn't available, make it with frozen rhubarb, thawed and well drained. The cake is good either way, although it's moister and more pudding-like with fresh.

I made it with fresh rhubarb the first time and with frozen the next, though I didn't completely thaw or drain the frozen rhubarb - so I guess we'll see.  I'm not sure it was 'pudding-like' at all, even with fresh rhubarb.  It was a very moist cake with a wonderful flavor!  I had it with whipped cream the first time, but I didn't bother with the whipped cream after that.  The cake is just perfect on its own.  A little vanilla ice cream on top isn't bad, either.

The original recipe called for mixing 2/3 cup sugar with the rhubarb, but I cut that in half because I believe you should be able to taste the tartness of the rhubarb. I love the burst of tart flavor from the rhubarb balanced against the sweetness of the cake. I hate that most recipes want to hide that tartness with so much sugar!  If you're looking for sweet, then I think you should try something else, because rhubarb is tart, and that's what makes it special! 

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Rhubarb Crunch (w/ Strawberries)

I wasn't planning on making dessert this weekend, but one of my friends had to post a recipe for a rhubarb crisp. It sounded so good, I thought I'd try her recipe, but then I didn't. Oh, I still made dessert, but I used a recipe I got from my mom instead. I'm sure Susan's recipe is really yummy, but so is this one - and because she had to mention strawberries with the rhubarb, even though she didn't include strawberries in her recipe, I decided to add some of those, too. While I love rhubarb for itself, strawberries and rhubarb are a great combination, too!

Rhubarb Crunch

• 6 cups diced rhubarb (or in this case about 4 cups and a pound of sliced strawberries)
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 5 T. flour
• cinnamon (optional - I just sprinkled some on)
  
• Topping:
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1-1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (I used margarine)

Combine first three ingredients and a dash of cinnamon. Place in greased 13x9" pan. Combine brown sugar, oats and flour. Cut in butter and shortening until crumbly. Sprinkle over rhubarb mixture. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream, or milk.

So good warm from the oven with vanilla ice cream!

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