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5 Comments Are there things tastier than a good rhubarb crumble? Honestly… I don’t think so. This version has the perfect balance of sweet and tart, with a buttery crust, soft rhubarb filling and a crisp crumble topping.
This recipe actually took me two tries to get right (let’s just say: don’t underestimate your baking dish ), but the remake turned out exactly how I wanted it. And trust me, you’re going to want to make this one. I love making crumbles so also make sure to check the cherry crumble, apple crumble and the almond crumble with blackberries.
Table of contents
Why You’ll Want to Make This Immediately
- Sweet meets tart perfection – Rhubarb does its zingy thing, sugar keeps it in check
- Three layers = triple joy – Buttery base, juicy middle, crunchy top
- Tastes even better tomorrow – If you can wait that long
- No fancy stuff needed -Just simple ingredients doing great things
A Slightly Dramatic Rhubarb Crumble Story
The first time I made this rhubarb crumble… it looked promising. I found the recipe on MadebyEllen, got excited, and confidently baked it for guests.
And then… disaster.
Not in taste (thankfully), but in structure. I used a “perfectly fine” oven dish, except it absolutely refused to release the crumble. Let’s just say serving it required some creative scooping.
But since it tasted so good, I knew it deserved a second chance.
Round two: lined baking pan, no sticking, no drama, just a perfectly sliceable, golden rhubarb crumble.
Moral of the story? Always trust your baking paper.
Recipe Ingredients
Making this delicious rhubarb crumble is easy and you don’t need many special ingredients to get it going. Here’s what you need:
- crust – for the crust I used cold butter in cubes, sugar, egg and all purpose flour
- filling – the rhubarb filling is made with about a kilo (little more than 2 pounds) of fresh rhubarb, orange juice, sugar and vanilla
- crumble topping – to finish it off you need a crumble topping and mine is made with flour, old-fashioned oats, sugar and butter.
How To Make Rhubarb Crumble
This is really more of a rhubarb crumble pie but what’s in a name right? Making it is a two or three part process. I would suggest to start by making the crust as that needs to chill a bit before using.
Make the crust
In a large bowl, rub together the flour, salt, and butter until crumbly. Add the sugar and egg and quickly bring together into a dough.
Wrap and chill for 20 minutes.
Make the filling
Place the rhubarb, sugar, orange juice, and vanilla in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 12 minutes until the rhubarb is soft but still holds some shape.
Make the crumble
Rub the flour and butter together until crumbly.
Stir in the sugar and oats until you get a coarse crumble mixture.
I do bake the crust blind first so I’m sure that it is baked properly. That is optional but I would highly recommend it.
FAQ Rhubarb Crumble
Yes! It actually firms up nicely after chilling, making it ideal to prepare a day in advance.
That’s normal right out of the oven. It sets as it cools, especially after some time in the fridge.
Yes, just don’t thaw it first. Cook it straight from frozen and adjust cooking time slightly if needed.
Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It also freezes really well.
You can reduce the sugar in the filling slightly, but keep in mind that rhubarb is naturally quite tart.
Absolutely. This recipe works well with apples, strawberries, or a mix.
More Rhubarb Recipes
- Rhubarb hazelnut cake
- Rhubarb pannacotta
- Rhubarb cake with almond flour
- Rhubarb cake with orange and pistachio
Rhubarb crumble
Ingredients
Pie crust
- 250 grams flour
- 5 grams salt
- 125 grams butter in cubes
- 125 grams sugar
- 1 egg
Rhubarb compote
- 1000 grams rhubarb cleaned and cut into pieces of 1,5 cm
- juice of 1 orange
- 100 gram sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Crumble topping
- 70 grams flour
- 70 grams old-fashioned rolled oats
- 70 grams sugar
- 70 grams cold butter
- icing sugar for serving
Equipment
- Rectangular baking tin 20 x 30
How to make rhubarb crumble
- For the bottom, put the flour, salt and butter into a large bowl and use your fingers to make a crumbly dough. Add the sugar and the egg and quickly mix to form a ball. Put your dough into the fridge for 20 minutes.
- While the dough is resting you can make the rhubarb and the crumble
- Put the rhubarb together with the sugar and the orange juice and the vanilla in a large pan and heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is boiling. Turn the heat to low and simmer for about 12 minutes until the rhubarb is cooked
Crumble
- For the crumble mix the flour and the butter together in a bowl and make crumbs out of it with your fingers Stir the sugar and the rolled oats through it and mix it wel.
- Take the dough out of the fridge and put it in an ovendish with non stick coating or cover with baking paper and press the dough into the bottom until equally divided Make holes in the dough with a fork and put in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and increase the temperature to 200 C
- Pour the compote on top of the bottom. And make a layer of the crumbs on top
- Put the dish into the oven for about 20 minutes or until the crumble topping is nice and golden brown
- Serve with icing sugar if you want
Notes
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
Sometimes the best tasting meals come from some sort of culinary disasters! But it doesn’t look that bad and there is rhubarb and butter in it so it sure tastes right!
You’re absolutely right Maria! There can’t be anything wrong when it has rhubarb and butter in it… Lol…
With or without the bottom crust, this looks terrific! Things often look more interesting jumbled up, anyway. I love rhubarb — I really, really need to find some this weekend!
I’d eat that without the bottom layer any time! What a lovely crumble pie.
Thanks so much Maureen and you’re right; it tastes equally well!