Last week we were lucky enough to deliver a birthday cake to one of the largest farms in the UK, and were invited in by the customer to pick our own as-fresh-as-fresh-can-be asparagus and rhubarb. It was an absolute treat of an experience and we left with a huge bagful of the good stuff.

If I wasn't a fan of rhubarb before I certainly am now. I made this easy-as-easy-can-be rhubarb crumble with the crumbliest crumble from simple cupboard ingredients and chopped hazelnuts. It was the perfect balance between tart and sweet, and a delightful mix of textures where the rhubarb was really the star of the show with a great supporting cast of crumble and custard!

Rhubarb Crumble Recipe (serves 6)

Ingredients

550g rhubarb (trimmed and cut in thumb-sized chunks)

100g caster sugar

140g self-raising flour

85g butter (chilled, cubed)

50g soft brown sugar

50g chopped hazelnuts

pinch of salt

Method

1) Place the rhubarb and caster sugar in a saucepan with a lid and bring to a simmer over medium heat, giving it an occasional stir. Lower the heat and let stew till the rhubarb is tender and soft but holding its shape! This step should take about 15 minutes. Don't be alarmed by the amount of juices flowing out - it's good stuff! 

2) Pour the rhubarb and 2/3rd of the juices into a baking dish and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

3) Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

4) To prep the crumble, rub the butter cubes into the flour till you get a crumbly bread-crumb like texture. Mix in the soft brown sugar and hazelnuts and pinch of salt.

5) Spread the crumble over the rhubarb in the baking dish and place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes. It's ready when the crumble is golden and the juices are bubbling up from under.

6) Serve piping hot with custard or vanilla ice cream on the side!

I didn't make the custard myself as 1) I'm not a fan of eggy sauces (that includes mayo and hollandaise!), 2) it's an expense of time and ingredients I could do without as it's just the two of us and 3) the shop-bought stuff was surprisingly satisfactory.

Hope you make the most of rhubarb season! I've been converted to the rhubarb-loving-life.

Lots of love,

Reshmi xoxo