Rhubarb Crisp 101

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Rhubarb Crisp 101

Postby Sunbeam » Mon May 23, 2016 11:19 pm

We had a lovely meal this evening: grilled marinated pork chops, seasoned basmati vegetable fried rice, steamed asparagus picked from our garden today, and for dessert, rhubarb crisp made with rhubarb picked from our garden today.

I went looking thru various fruit crisp recipes, and settled on a recipe to try for the rhubarb crisp. This is a work in progress, comments are welcome. I made some notes on things I might adjust next time. We have a bountiful rhubarb patch, so there will be a few more of these made before strawberry season starts. Here's today's entry from my recipe notebook:

Rhubarb Crisp (Crumble)
v1.0

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Adapted from three different fruit crisp/crumble recipes.
This recipe is a work-in-progress: see Notes.
We prefer a no-oatmeal crumble topping, hence this version.
Whole wheat flour is a healthy option.

Pre-heat oven to 350°F.

Filling:
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3 cups diced fresh rhubarb
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice (optional)

Notes:

-One recipe just called for 1 Tbsp water instead of lemon juice, another called for a tsp of lemon zest in addition to the lemon juice. Jury's out. Questionable whether any or either is needed if the rhubarb is really fresh.

-Also thinking about reducing the amount of sugar somewhat: we might get by with 1/4 cup for a more tart filling.

-This produced a fairly runny filling, so try more like 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp flour or add a bit of tapioca flour if you like the filling to be more 'set'.

Topping:

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1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened

We're thinking the sugar/flour/butter ratios might be better adjusted, closer to
1c brown sugar, 1c flour, 1/2c butter, to give a crisper, less caramelly texture.

If you prefer an oatmeal crisp topping: 1c oatmeal, 1c brown sugar, 1/2c flour, and 1/2c butter is a good starting point.

I also like to add about 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon or nutmeg to the topping mixture

Blend Filling ingredients, add to a 8" round or 7"x11" glass casserole or loaf pan.
Blend Topping ingredients, spread over top of the filling and pack down lightly.

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes.

Let cool until just warm, serve with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or a liberal amount of half-and-half cream.

Store leftover in fridge uncovered or loosely covered, or topping will go mucky.
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A bonus side-note to rhubarb pie aficionados:

Nothing can compare to fresh rhubarb pie, served warm, drizzled with maple syrup. It's a magical taste combination: you can't imagine the flavour synergy until you taste it. Similar concept to warm apple pie and old cheddar cheese.
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Sunbeam
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Re: Rhubarb Crisp 101

Postby Sunbeam » Sun May 29, 2016 12:34 am

OK, so after trying that recipe it needs some work.

Way too much sugar, too much topping for the fruit. We're gonna go with 1/4c or less sugar in the filling, and reduce the volume of the topping considerably.

More like 3/4c Brown sugar, 1/2c flour, 1/2c butter for the topping maybe. I want to taste rhubarb, not sugar.

We'll try this again and post refinements to the recipe as we test them.
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Sunbeam
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Posts: 248
Joined: Sat Nov 09, 2013 8:43 pm


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