Recipe: Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

There’s something about a good crumble that, to me, is incomparable. Some of the best things in life are the simplest. There’s an elegance to the simplicity of tossing fresh fruit in sugar, citrus, or spice, depending on the time of year, and gently baking it under a soft, melt-on-your-tongue crumble. 

I love an apple crumble in the fall and winter with a mixture of sweet and sour apples nestled in an oat, butter, and cinnamon topping. But now that spring is here, this baker’s fancy turns to the fruits at hand: my favorite pairing, strawberries and rhubarb. The tartness of pink, earthy rhubarb and sweetness of red, ripe strawberries—in the happiest of circumstances, just-picked and warm from the sun—is a match made in heaven. 

For these ephemeral fruits—apparently, according to the late Queen Elizabeth II, strawberries should only be eaten in their season—a gentle topping of sugar, butter, and flour suffices. 

My strawberry rhubarb crumble adapts from two beloved cookbooks, “James Beard’s American Cookery” and “The Crabtree and Evelyn Cookbook.” I use James Beard’s strawberry, rhubarb, and sugar proportions, and I love the buttery simplicity of the Crabtree and Evelyn topping.

Here is my adaptation, which makes 4-5 servings.

Ingredients

• 1-2 cups strawberries, sliced
• 2-3 cups rhubarb, sliced
• ¼ + ⅓ cup granulated sugar, divided      
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for baking dish

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Add sliced strawberries and rhubarb to a bowl and sprinkle over up to ¼ cup of sugar, according to your sweet tooth. Mix and leave to macerate while you make the topping.
• Combine 1/3 cup of sugar with flour and butter in a bowl. Work together with fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs.
• Butter an 8-inch-deep baking dish. Add macerated fruit and sprinkle crumble topping evenly on top. Bake for about an hour, until a knife inserted into the crumble easily pierces the rhubarb.

To Serve

It is never gilding the lily in any season to add a dollop of vanilla ice cream, clotted cream, plain cream—well, you get the idea—to a warm crumble.  

I’m off to find some ripe strawberries and gorgeous rhubarb. If you want to pick your own strawberries, there are plenty of pick-your-own orchards and roadside fruit stands to, well, pick from. Happy baking!

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