Ginger Orange and Rhubarb Crumble

A crumble is a dish of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of butter, flour, and sugar. The crumble is baked in an oven until the topping is crisp. It is often served with custard, cream or ice cream as a hearty, warm dessert after a meal.

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Crumbles originated in Britain during World War II. Due to strict rationing the ingredients required to make the bases of pies contained too much of the necessary flour, butter and sugar to make a pastry. So a simple mixture of flour, butter and sugar was used to make the topping, which was crumbled over stewed fruit for a pudding. The dish was also popular due to its simplicity, as it allowed women more time for other household tasks.

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Although forced rhubarb becomes available in February, I make this recipe all year round – hence using a tin of rhubarb. It may be a little lazy, but it saves having to stew the stalks beforehand and makes a quick and easy desert when in a hurry.

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Ingredients:

1 tin of rhubarb, 540g net.

Zest and juice of 1 orange

30ml ginger and orange marmalade

50g sugar - white or light brown

100g butter

200g flour

5ml ground ginger

Pinch of salt

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Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C

Drain the syrup from the rhubarb into a pan and set the flesh aside. To the syrup, add the juice and zest of an orange and 30ml of ginger and orange marmalade. Bring the syrup to the boil, lower the heat and simmer to reduce the liquid to about half when it will begin to thicken up. Return the rhubarb flesh to the pan and mix together with the syrup.

To make the topping, put the sugar, butter, flour, ground ginger and a pinch of salt into a kitchen blender and pulse together until a crumbly mixture is reached.

Butter an 8 inch pie plate and pour the fruit mixture into it. Cover the fruit with the crumbly mixture and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, when it should be beginning to become golden on top. If you like it more golden, leave for about 35-40 minutes.

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