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Hungry Girl Por Vida

Recipe: Brown Butter Rhubarb Crumble

May 3, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Rhubarb is such a strange beauty and totally magical, too.

It’s the ultimate harbinger of spring and definitely an old-fashioned beauty–classic and maybe a little unexpected. Despite how many times I bake and eat rhubarb, it always makes me swoon. It’s celery-like stalks and vegetal looks belie an unexpected tartness. When baked until bubbly, the aroma is undeniably fruity–almost like tart berries–while the juices run a luscious hot pink.

When I bake with rhubarb it’s all about tart, juicy, fruitiness. I like to keep it simple and relatively unadorned–I don’t want the flavor to be masked or hidden. I love it paired with simple pastry or crumble. Pie is always a delicious option and it pairs beautifully with creamy custards as well, but possibly one of the simplest and most satisfying preparations would have to be a crumble. Browned butter is mixed with flour, oats, sugar, and a bit of salt, which takes a rest in the refrigerator while rhubarb is chopped, tossed with sugar, vanilla bean, and cornstarch into a baking dish. Finally, the rhubarb is topped with the chunky crumble topping and baked until brown and bubbly. This dessert is perfect served with a dollop of something cool and creamy–vanilla ice cream is always the best choice, but whipped cream or creme fraiche are lovely as well.

Brown Butter Rhubarb Crumble

adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Rhubarb leaves are toxic, but are easily and safely removed by simply cutting off and discarding. I coarsely ground the oats in my mini-processor. You can leave them whole if you’d like. You can also sub 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract for the bean. I also like to err on the tart side, so up the sugar if you like a sweeter filling. 

for the crumble:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

6 Tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

1 stick (4ounces) unsalted butter, browned

for the rhubarb filling:

2 pounds rhubarb, ends and toxic leaves removed

1/2 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, seeded

pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 Tablespoon chilled, unsalted butter, cut into tiny cubes

Heat oven to 375*F.

To brown the butter, melt in a skillet over medium-low until solids are browned and fragrant like nutty toffee. Remove from heat and set aside while you gather the remaining crumble ingredients. In a large bowl stir together flour, oats, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Stir in the slightly cooled brown butter and set in the refrigerator or freezer while you prepare the filling.

Cut rhubarb into about 1-inch pieces–I like mine on a fairly sharp bias. In a large bowl rub vanilla seeds into sugar until combined and fragrant. Stir in salt and cornstarch, finally toss the rhubarb into the sugar mixture to coat well and scrape the mixture into a 9-inch pie plate or other desired baking dish. Sprinkle with cold, cubed butter, and top with chilled crumble mixture and bake for 45-60 minutes until top is golden browned and juices are bubbling. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature, with ice cream if desired.

 

 

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Filed Under: pie Tagged With: baking, brown butter, crumble, dessert, rhubarb, spring

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Naomi A.

    May 3, 2012 at 6:04 am

    My mom used to always make strawberry rhubarb pie – but I’ve never had just the rhubarb on its own! This is making it to my summer sweets list.

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 3, 2012 at 6:12 am

      Naomi, my grandma always made strawberry-rhubarb pie too. Plain rhubarb is just as good, I hope you try it!

      Reply
  2. NicoleD

    May 3, 2012 at 6:11 am

    So much pink prettiness! I love rhubarb in a crumble and I’m sure this brown butter version is top-notch. Lovely!

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 3, 2012 at 6:13 am

      Yes! I bet you’d love it Nicole!

      Reply
  3. Kathryn

    May 3, 2012 at 6:44 am

    Love the idea of brown butter in a crumble, such a good combination with the tart rhubarb.

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 3, 2012 at 6:57 am

      Thank You, Kathryn!

      Reply
  4. Robyn

    May 3, 2012 at 7:27 am

    every spring i go on a rhubarb bender and i love every minute! try making smitten kitchen’s breakfast apple granola crisp but swap in rhubarb! that way you can eat it for breakfast! although i would eat this crumble for breakfast too :o)

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 3, 2012 at 11:16 am

      I definitely have eaten crumble for breakfast 🙂

      Reply
  5. Erin

    May 3, 2012 at 8:41 am

    I love the idea of this recipe, strawberry rhubarb is tasty but I feel like it often overwhelms the rhubarb.

    If you like unadorned Rhubarb treats, I highly recommend this recipe
    http://orangette.blogspot.com/2010/03/lot-of-rhubarb.html , I pair it with angel food cake and lightly sweetened whipped cream, or just top plain yogurt and granola with it! So good.

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 3, 2012 at 11:17 am

      thanks for the link!

      Reply
  6. Laura Dembowski

    May 3, 2012 at 9:57 am

    Love rhubarb so much. This recipe sounds great. Rhubarb pie is my favorite; I can’t wait to make one this season! I love it on its own, instead of with strawberries, like most people use it. It is such a star all on its own.

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 3, 2012 at 11:17 am

      I agree, it’s good with strawberry, but rhubarb is a treat on it’s own!

      Reply
  7. Megan

    May 3, 2012 at 10:11 am

    Crumbles are the very best! This one looks especially good. And good use of the word harbinger. 🙂

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 3, 2012 at 11:17 am

      Ha, thanks man!

      Reply
  8. Heather

    May 4, 2012 at 9:37 am

    Thanks for the recipe. Totally going to make this on the weekend.

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 4, 2012 at 10:23 am

      heather, awesome! let me know how you like it!

      Reply
  9. Krystal

    May 8, 2012 at 3:01 pm

    Eating this right now. And it is AMAZING! I am not a great cook, and even I can make it, and my husband is super impressed. THANK YOU!

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 9, 2012 at 5:12 am

      Amazing! I am so glad you like it and it worked out for you! This makes my day 🙂

      Reply
  10. jordan

    May 16, 2012 at 8:48 am

    nom nom nom. this looks incredible. i made a quick easy berry crumble this past weekend for a small dinner. they are so easy and so delish! i’m glad i’m getting back to the blogsosphere! thanks, cindy!

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 16, 2012 at 10:09 am

      yum! I love berry crumble, and welcome back!

      Reply
  11. Kara

    May 27, 2013 at 3:22 pm

    Just pulled this out of the oven….Yummers! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • cindy

      May 28, 2013 at 5:52 am

      yay!thanks for making it!

      Reply

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