Rhubarb

The hot weather has made the rhubarb go mad. As with other fruits that are in abundance I harvest and preserve for less plentiful times. I tend towards the traditional pudding and have been surprised at how often guests seem to enjoy a simple, old fashioned dessert. Fortunately visitors and the recent 'coolish' night came together to provide the perfect opportunity for a yummy hot fruit dessert - Rhubarb and Raspberry Crisp. This dessert is similar to a crumble.  Serve with cream, ice cream, custard or all three. Any fruit will do but I particularly enjoy fruits that have a tartness such as apricots, plums and rhubarb. This version of the crisp topping was given to me by my friend Pam. Use the recipe as a guide, the amounts do not have to be exact. Vary the fruit, change the nuts or leave them out and increase the oats and coconut. I usually make a double quantity and eat it the next day warmed in the microwave.

harvesting the rhubarb

Rhubarb and Raspberry Crisp
Fruit Mixture
1 bunches rhubarb, washed and chopped into 2 cm lengths
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons sugar
Topping
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup flaked almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar
60 g butter

Combine fruit and sugar and place in a casserole or oven safe dish.
Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave, add remaining topping ingredients and mix well.
Bake at 160 deg C until golden brown and fruit bubbling.

How to make 

collect ingredients

chop rhubarb into small chunks, add raspberries and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar

melt butter, add oats, almonds, coconut and brown sugar, mix well

spoon topping over fruit mixture, bake at 160 deg C until golden brown and fruit mixture is bubbling

spoon into bowls and serve with cream, ice cream or custard

I mostly use my slow roasted fruits to make this dessert. In summer excess fruit from my trees are roasted and then frozen. The technique for this can be found in an earlier post - From the Garden.  Raspberries are fantastic when combined with other fruit and will add colour as well as tartness. Most berries work well. A good pantry/freezer solution is a large tin of pie apples mixed with a cup of frozen raspberries.