Crunchy Rhubarb Crumble

Preparation

• 1
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, 160 degrees fan.
• 2
  2. Wash, trim and chop the rhubarb stems into chunks, discarding any stringy outer layers. Put the rhubarb into a large saucepan together with the brown sugar and water. Add a tablespoon of juice from the lemon. Heat very gently for 10 to 12 minutes, moving the chunks around without breaking them using a wooden spoon, until the rhubarb has softened but is still in whole pieces.
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  3. Put the flour into a large bowl and mix in the baking powder. Cut the butter into small pieces and lightly rub them into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the brown sugar and mix well, then scatter on the crunchy cereal and stir it in too.
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  The cereal I chose was a mixture of honeyed oats, almonds and hazelnuts in clusters, but you can choose your own favourite
• 5
  just make sure that any nuts or clusters are not too big.
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  4. Place the rhubarb in the bottom of an ovenproof baking dish, then sprinkle on the crumble evenly. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven. You can tell that it is ready when the topping has browned and the rhubarb juices are beginning to bubble up at the edges.
• 7
  Serve hot with vanilla custard, thick double or Cornish clotted cream, or vanilla ice cream. Or, for a slightly less rich dessert, try using thick Greek yoghurt instead.
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  Variations:
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  Another classic combination of flavours is rhubarb and ginger
• 10
  just add a teaspoon of ground ginger, or chopped stem ginger, into the rhubarb instead of the lemon juice. Or, add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon instead to add spice to the rhubarb.
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  Try combining other fruits with the rhubarb
• 12
  pears or oranges work well.
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  For the topping, you could lose the crunch and just use flour
• 14
  add more and leave out the cereal. The flour doesn’t have to be wholemeal, some people prefer to use plain flour. Or you could replace the crunchy cereal with muesli, or simply porridge oats, instead.