I’m very lucky with my next door neighbours. They’re really amazing at taking in the countless parcels I get for work- which always seem to turn up the moment I leave the house after waiting in all day! – and they have given me some of their home grown rhubarb for years now.

I love rhubarb. It’s got that tangy, sour, zing that just works with so many sweet dishes. This year I’ve been trying out a few new recipes. I’d been wanting to do a rhubarb and chocolate brownie recipe for a while and hadn’t really got it right till now. Tim and I thought they were amazing – but the kids found them a bit too rich. Grown up brownies we don’t have to share!!! Yay! I then went on to try my hand at rhubarb blondies. They were okay but as I’m not a huge fan of white chocolate I wasn’t sold (I think they were too sweet so I’ll have to give them another go some time!)

For some reason I couldn’t get crumble out of my mind so that’s what I made first. It was one of those spur of the moment “I’ve got freshly picked rhubarb sitting on my kitchen table and I really fancy crumble for pud tonight – even though it’s a Wednesday and pudding is usually saved for the weekend! – type of moments!

I literally threw it all together in 10 minutes and popped it in the oven to bubble away. It was quick, simple and delicious. The sweet, oatiness of the crumble together with the sharp tartness of the rhubarb and the creaminess of the ice cream made this the perfect pudding.

Rhubarb Crumble recipe

For the crumble topping

75g plain flour
75g brown sugar
75g oats
75g butter- at room temperature

For the filling

10g butter
50g brown sugar
450g rhubarb – chopped into small pieces

Heat your oven to 180ºC (Fan 160ºC)
In a bowl cut the butter up into small pieces and add the sugar, flour and oats. Rub together with your fingers until completely combined but still crumbly. Place in a sandwich bag in the fridge till the filling is ready.
Prepare the filling by melting the butter in a deep frying pan (don’t let it get too hot- you don’t want the butter to burn). Add the sugar until it’s dissolved and then add the rhubarb and cook for 5 minutes. Set to one side to cool slightly.
Place all the semi cooked rhubarb into your pie dish and layer the crumble on top. Bake immediately in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes or until the crumble starts to brown around the edges.
Serve warm with a dollop of ice cream