Rhubarb crumble slices

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb. I have to confess something - I have never tasted rhubarb before until a few weeks ago. I think the first time I heard about it was probably on the earlier series of Masterchef and plus I've seen it around in the supermarkets and lots of rhubarb crumble recipes but I've never tried it! And so I was curious...

"Dad, what does rhubarb taste like? "

"It's similar to celery.."

Wait, does it look like celery or does it actually taste like celery? I really dislike celery but I still wanted to find out how rhubarb tastes like. And so with the risk of it tasting like celery, I tried the rhubarb and almond tart from Bourke Street Bakery. I thought that seeing there's only a couple of slices on the top of the tart I could take it off if I didn't like it and still have the rest of the tart. Easy. But when I tried it… firstly, it did not taste like celery, not even a bit! Haha and secondly, I quite liked the taste! It had a sour/tart flavour to it which was very different and distinct. And from that day onward I developed a slight crush for it hehe - I bought some rhubarb, baked rhubarb crumble slices, made some rhubarb jam, packaged some in the fridge ready for my next baking and every time I see it in a bakery I already knew that was what I was getting!

Rhubarb crumble slices

Ingredients

2 1/4 cup plain flour

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

170g unsalted butter, cold and cubed

1 egg

For the filling:

3 cups 1/2-inch slices of rhubarb

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup brown sugar 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter a 9-inch square pan.

Mix together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. 

Add the butter and egg and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you get a crumbly mixture.

Place 2/3 of the crumble mixture into the square pan and press it down to get an even layer.

To make the filling, mix the rhubarb, vanilla and sugar together.

Place the filling in an even layer on top of the crumble base.

Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture evenly on top.

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes until golden-brown.

Let it cool slightly before slicing and serving with some custard! 

Enjoy!

Eileen