The aroma reaches you even before you open the oven. Cinnamon, gently caramelizing rhubarb, warm butter on rolled oats — a blend that fills the kitchen in less than twenty minutes. This crumble is the kind of dessert you make on a Sunday and regret not having doubled the recipe.
Ingredients :
- Rhubarb — Choose firm stalks, bright red or vivid pink — green stalks work too but give a more acidic result. No need to peel if they aren’t too thick. Frozen works great out of season: just add an extra tablespoon of flour to the filling and definitely don’t thaw it beforehand.
- Rolled oats — Old-fashioned oats, the large ones — not instant oats which disintegrate during cooking. They provide that characteristic crunch, almost like a thick granola. Fine oats give a mushy result, which is a real shame for this type of dessert.
- Cold butter — It really needs to be cold to create small pea-sized lumps in the crumble. If you soften it first, you get a homogenous paste that hardens too much when baked. Take it out of the fridge just before starting, dice it, and work quickly.
- Brown sugar — Brown sugar in the crumble — not white sugar — brings a light caramel note that pairs perfectly with the acidity of the rhubarb. It’s a small difference that really counts in the final result.
