My mom and I made this Cherry Rhubarb Crumble and thought it was very good.  My mom is crazy about cherries, so we just had to try this recipe.  As for rhubarbs, I had no idea what one was, let alone what they looked like.   For those of you who don’t know, a rhubarb is botanically classified as a vegetable, but according to a New York court case in 1947, it became classified as a fruit due to regulations and duties.  Rhubarbs look like red and green celery.  They are crunchy, but I don’t know what they taste like raw.  In the crumble, they tasted sweet and were a good pairing with the cherries.  I’ve seen jams made with rhubarb such as Stonewall Kitchen’s “Strawberry Apple Rhubarb Jam”, which is excellent on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or homemade biscuits.

The Cherry Rhubarb Crumble is sweet, crunchy and absolutely perfect with vanilla ice cream.  Feel free to substitute peaches, blackberries, apples, or any other fruit of your desire.  The crumble topping is perfect for all types of fruit.  This recipe comes from Dorie Greenspan’s blog.

Pulse together the flour, ginger, salt, sugars, and butter in a food processor.

Add the nuts and pulse 3 to 4 more times.

Place rhubarb, cherries, sugar, cornstarch, and ginger in a buttered pie plate and let mixture rest on counter, stirring occasionally, until a little syrup forms around the fruit.

Break the crumbs into uneven clumps and scatter them over the fruit.

Bake for 45-55 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  The crumbs should be deeply golden and the syrup from the fruit bubbling up around them.

Cherry Rhubarb Crumble


Ingredients
For the crumble:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
7 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup nuts – we used sliced almonds and pecans

For the fruit:
1 lb. rhubarb, trimmed (peeled if the stalks are fat) and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 lb. cherries, pitted
1/3 cup sugar
1 to 2 tsp chopped fresh ginger (more, less or none, if you’d like)
2 tsp cornstarch (this will give you a pretty soupy crumble; if you want a thicker syrup, add another 1 to 2 tsp)

Directions
To make the crumbs:  
1.  Put all the ingredients, except the nuts, in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture forms curds and clumps and holds together when pressed.
2.  Add the nuts, pulse a couple of times and, if you’re not ready to make the crumble, turn the mixture out into a bowl, cover and chill until needed.

To assemble and bake the crumble:  
1.  Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Butter a deep-dish pie plate and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or silicone baking mat.
2.  Put the fruit, sugar, cornstarch and ginger in the pie plate and let the mixture rest on the counter, stirring occasionally, until you’ve got a little syrup forming around the fruit.
3.  Using your fingers, break the crumbs into uneven clumps and scatter them over the fruit, pressing them down just a little.
4.  Bake the crumble until the crumbs are deeply golden and the syrup from the fruit is bubbling up around (and maybe through) them, 45-55 minutes.
5.  Transfer the crumble to a rack and let it cool until it’s just warm or until it reaches room temperature.  If you’ve got leftovers, chill them – the crumble is good at just about any temperature.

Serves:  8