Rhubarb, Raspberry and Plum Crumble

by Dominic Franks @DomInTheKitchen

There's a short window in late January, early February when the world of fresh tangy fruits collide in seasonal excellence and this rhubarb, raspberry and plum crumble is the lovechild of that moment. Not only is it packed with wonderfully tart local rhubarb, but it also has some glorious blood orange juice and zest. The combination is so perfect and then when also combined with raspberries, the whole thing becomes a sherbet lover’s dream.

I'm also using a dash of Campari as I think the bitters in the liquor really work well here.

The tartness is offset by the wonderful sweetness of the crumble topping, for which I've used four types of flour, which I think makes for a wonderfully crumblier crumble.

Kitchen tools that could be useful:
Cole & Mason Cambridge Herb & Spice Carousel
Cole & Mason Large Acacia Wooden Chopping Board

Prep:  10 mins
Cooking time: 25 - 35 mins
Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

for the filling

• 2 stalks or roughly 200g rhubarb – chopped into large chunks
• 100g raspberries
• 3 plums - stoned and quartered
• a dash of Campari (optional)
• 2 tablespoons runny honey
• 2 teaspoons ginger
• the juice and finely grated zest of 1 blood orange

for the crumble

• 150g butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 50g Demerara sugar
• 100g porridge oats
• 75g plain flour
• 75g rye flour
• 50g ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pre-heat the oven to 170C (fan)

I’m using a 20cm x 10cm ceramic oval oven-proof dish, but any oven-proof dish would work, just make sure it’s deep enough for a nice thick layer of crumble topping.

1. In a large bowl add your large chunks of rhubarb along with the raspberries and plums.
2. Pour in a splash of Campari (if using) then stir in the sugar, honey, juice and zest of the blood orange and ground ginger.  Pour this into the bottom of your dish.
3. In another bowl, place all the crumble ingredients and rub together with your fingertips until it’s all combined.
4. Pour this topping onto the rhubarb and press down firmly. Don’t worry if there are a few gaps in the corners, you want the filling to bubble through a little.
5. Bake for 25 mins or until the top is beginning to turn a light golden colour
6. Allow it to cool by half and then serve with lashings of custard or cream.

Tip: For a crumblier topping don’t rub the butter into the topping ingredients too finely.  Keep it lumpy and then fork the top of the crumble before it goes into the oven.