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Rhubarb Crumble with Strawberries
I think a fruit crumble would have to be my favourite dessert of all time. When I am not making a classic Apple Crumble, I am probably making my favourite Rhubarb Crumble, especially when forced rhubarb (the bright pink variety) is in season.
I love the tartness of rhubarb, but I love its vivid pink colour even more. And when paired with strawberries and raspberries, they are a match made in heaven.
Forced Rhubarb
When forced rhubarb is in season in February and March in the northern hemisphere, my kitchen is often witness to countless jars of Rhubarb Compote, a few servings of Rhubarb Custard Cake, as well as an assortment of other baked goodies (like my Rhubarb and Vanilla Friands).
As forced rhubarb has such a short season, I sometimes even try to stash a few stalks away in the freezer to use throughout the year.
Of course, the more common variety of rhubarb is also delicious and tastes exactly the same. However, you won’t get the same vivid red-pink colour as you would with forced rhubarb.
Rhubarb Crumble
I first made Rhubarb Crumble using simply a homemade Rhubarb Compote and topped it with my favourite crumble.
But then I read that rhubarb paired really well with strawberries, and I was very thankful for that tip; I haven’t looked back since.
Then one day, I added some leftover raspberries from breakfast that morning, and I suddenly happened upon the perfect trio of rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries.
How to Serve Rhubarb Crumble
Whilst this Rhubarb Crumble is wonderful served piping hot from the oven, I seem to love it even more the next day, cold at breakfast.
In my home, a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the side is non-negotiable.
How to Make Rhubarb Crumble
For a printable recipe, please scroll down.
Rhubarb Crumble with Strawberries
Ingredients
For the rhubarb filling
- 300 g (11 oz) rhubarb, about 2 stalks, fresh or frozen
- 2-3 tablespoons vanilla sugar, or caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 1 tablespoon cornflour, (US: cornstarch)
- 500 g (1 lb) strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 150 g (5 oz) raspberries
For the crumble topping
- 150 g (1 cup) plain flour, (all-purpose flour)
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 100 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and diced
- 3 tablespoons light muscovado sugar, or light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons vanilla sugar
Instructions
To make the rhubarb filling
- Cook the rhubarb in a saucepan over medium-high heat with the sugar. The rhubarb will start to break down and release its own liquid.
- Cook the rhubarb until it has softened and broken down, stirring frequently.
- Taste the cooked rhubarb to see if you want to add more sugar.
- Stir through the cornflour (cornstarch) to thicken the rhubarb mixture.
- Take the saucepan off the heat.
- Stir through the strawberries. The strawberries will start to soften from the heat of the cooked rhubarb.
- Pour the cooked fruit into a large pie dish, about 23 cm or 9 inches wide.
- Sprinkle over the raspberries.
- Set the pie dish aside to cool slightly.
To make the crumble topping
- Place the flour, salt and butter into a the bowl of a stand mixer with a flat-paddle attachment.
- Beat on low speed until the butter starts to form large clumps with the flour, and the mixture resembles wet sand.
- Alternatively, you can do this by hand by using your fingertips or a pastry blender to rub the butter into the flour, until you have a mixture which resembles wet sand.
- Use a fork to stir through the sugars.
- The crumble topping is ready to be used as is. However, if you like to have more crunchy bits in your crumble, you can use your fingertips to squeeze bits of the mixture together to form little clumps.
To assemble
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/390°F (without fan).
- Sprinkle the crumble topping over the rhubarb filling.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crumble is golden and the rhubarb filling is bubbling.
Kitchen Notes
- QUANTITY OF FRUIT
Please use the recipe for the rhubarb filling as a guide. You can add more or less of each fruit, depending on what you have. Sometimes I use less rhubarb, sometimes I use more strawberries, and sometimes I even leave out the raspberries. - MAKE AHEAD TIPS
*You can make both the rhubarb filling and crumble topping ahead of time.
* The rhubarb filling can be made up to several days in advance and kept covered in the fridge until you are ready to bake.
* The crumble topping can be made in advance and kept in the freezer in zip-lock freezer bags. There is no need to defrost the crumble – simply use straight from frozen.
* It is best to assemble the dish just before baking. If you cover the rhubarb filling with the crumble topping too far in advance, the crumble will absorb a lot of the liquid from the fruit, which will make the overall dish too dry. - OVEN & STOVE TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website have been tested on an induction stove and/or with a conventional oven (i.e. an oven without fan). All recipes on this website use temperatures for a conventional oven, unless otherwise mentioned. Convection ovens (i.e. fan-forced ovens) are typically 20°C/70°F hotter than conventional ovens, but please check your manufacturer’s handbook. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.
Did you make this recipe?
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This recipe was first published on 30 May 2012. It has been updated with new photos and more comprehensive recipe notes.
This is so pretty! I love how you used strawberries and raspberries in this. Delicious!
Rhubarb and strawberries seem to be a classic combination, but I had some leftover raspberries one day and added them to one of many versions of this crumble and just loved the sweetness and colour they add.
so pretty it looks!! Perfect summer dessert for me and for everyone who is reading this post.. Photographs are lovely as always, !!
Thanks, Saffron!
SOLD!!!!!! Gorgeous, loved the step by step element and LOVED the photo of the three fruits cooked and beautifully married together! OK, will make this too Than! 🙂
Glad you enjoyed this post, Sam 🙂 It’s a really lovely crumble and I hope you will like it!
Oh Thanh, we have so much of rhubarbs in the garden right now! I wish you could come and use some of it in your baking.
Nice towel by the way!
Hi Lisa! Lovely to see you here 🙂 You are so lucky to grow rhubarb in your garden. I have been buying rhubarb nearly every week! And you grow strawberries, too, if I remember? Hopefully you will give this recipe a try. You can add more rhubarb if you like – even twice as much – if you like more fruit in your crumble.
And many thanks for the lovely teatowel! I have been waiting for the perfect dish to show it off 🙂
Kiss and cuddles to M & L, xxx
What a perfect dessert!
I love the combination of ingredients! They just started selling rhubarb around where I live, I’ve GOT to make this!
This crumble is a great way to use rhubarb, making for a lovely spring/summer dessert 🙂 Please let me know if you try it!
Oh!!! Nice crumble!! I love them sooo much!!
Apples for winter, strawberries for spring… Or even some raspberries and cherries!! And vanilla ice cream!! Yam!!
And I love too much rhubarb, but, you know? Here in Spain you CAN’T find rhubarb anywhere. I hate it, cos I need it!!!
Some weeks ago we were in Paris, and I was going to bring back home some rhubarb. Well, every day seen it at market, and last day, there wasn’t any!! I couldn’t come home with my rhubarb.
So it’s really hard to see things like this, 😛
And, it’s funny, but one of the first things I wanted to make was your Bee sting, that my boyf and me are sure we’d enjoy.
we’ll have to wait…
And, again, lovely photos!
Oh shame that you couldn’t bring back some rhubarb to Spain! I would have been really disappointed, too! That’s interesting that you can’t find rhubarb in Spain. I wonder if that is because it is not commonly used in Spanish cooking?
Hopefully you will come across some rhubarb soon so you can try this dish or the Rhubarb Custard Tea Cake, or any dish really – I just love rhubarb!
And you have piqued my interest with cherries … they are in abundance at the markets at the moment and I haven’t thought to turn them into a crumble yet … I might give that a try soon 🙂
There are few things more comforting than a homemade crumble. I love how you’ve brightened this up with summer berries and sharp rhubarb – how delicious.
As much as I love apple crumble, I do love a brighter version for spring/summer. I also seem to be addicted to rhubarb and am making the most of its season 🙂
Oh, how glorious – I love strawberries cooked with rhubarb, but have never had the “with raspberry” combination. By the way, have you tried strawberries and gooseberries as a combination for hot puddings and pies ? I can heartily recommend it.
The addition of raspberries was a last minute thing on one occasion when I had a small handful leftover in the fridge. The next time I made the crumble, I left out the raspberries and felt that I missed the sweetness that they added. So I have since always added raspberries to my rhubarb and strawberry crumble and just love the combination 🙂
And no, I have not tried strawberries and gooseberries together. It sounds delicious!! Must try this asap! Thanks for tip 🙂
What a beautiful crumble Thanh! I love the mixture of berries and rhubarb. It’s perfect crumble weather here in Australia right now, and a bowl of this would go down a treat.
Thanks, Jennifer 🙂 For me, any weather is crumble weather, even when it is lovely and warm outside! But a crumble with red fruits like rhubarbs and berries does seem more summery and I try to reserve the humble apple crumble for when winter comes around again.
So true. Apple crumble is a favourite in our house. The kids even enjoy it now. We add some crushed white choc chips into the crumble for something different. Great photos as usual:)
How lovely to see you here, Chris! 🙂 I *love* the sound of adding white choc chips to the crumble! Ok, definitely trying that next time. Thanks for the idea!
A beautiful crumble. I haven’t attempt crumbles yet since I am not sure how they would be received at home. Your enthusiasm and pretty pictures gives me the confidence to give it a go.
Ooh I do hope you will try to make a crumble one day – it’s one the simplest desserts you can make at home. I hope your family will enjoy it!
You know, I am not a fan of cooked berries, strawberries in particular (unless it’s jam, not preserves). However your photos are fast making me consider baking this! It’s such a quick dessert too really. By the way, am completely loving the recipe and stage photo/recipe breakdowns…:-)
You know, I was hesitant about baking strawberries, especially since I once tried them in muffins (at a café) and didn’t really like the taste and texture. But as I mentioned above, it was after seeing an episode of Nigella’s Kitchen that I thought I should give them a try. Perhaps once married with some stewed rhubarb, the strawberries take on a totally different taste, but I definitely love them in this crumble 🙂
Ahhhh. My Mum gave me some rhubarb, and I had some frozen strawberries and just enough fresh raspberries. They are all sitting in the pie dish while I wait for my butter to cool down a bit. Can’t wait to taste!!! Thank you so much for your recipe. 🙂
Oh I hope it was delicious! I think frozen strawberries would work well in a baked dessert like this, but I would be curious to know. Rhubarb is no longer in season here and I think often of this crumble 🙂
How big is the pie plate you used?
The pie dish I used here is about 22 cm in diameter at the base.
Amazing photography and delicious food, your site is gorgeous, i love it when i stumble upon great food blogs. This one is definitely going on my bookmark list. I cant wait to make this for my sister she loves berries and crumble topping.
Do yourself a favour and add a little chopped fresh ginger to the rhubarb. Delish 🙂
Sounds lovely!
Thank you I have just used your beautiful recipe with my home grown produce and the results are great.
Thank you can’t wait for tea yummy x
Glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe 🙂 And even better that you could use fruit which you have grown in your own garden!
Mmmm… looks delicious! Can the fruit be frozen?
Yes, you could certainly use frozen fruit in this recipe. It might take a bit longer to cook, though, and you might need a bit more cornflour to thicken the sauce if it is too watery from using the frozen fruit. I often use frozen raspberries in baking and used frozen rhubarb not long ago. Crumbles are very forgiving 🙂
mmm…this looks delicious! I can’t WAIT to try this! Thank you for this great recipe!
Gorgeous recipe! I made this with normal rhubarb and it tasted amazing. Can’t wait to try it with forced rhubarb when it is back in season.
Beautiful recipe! I’ve made it several times now and I think of it everytime I see rhubarb at the supermarket.
I made this crumble with regular rhubarb and it tasted absolutely wonderful. How I wish I could have made it with forced rhubarb!
This is the best rhubarb mix I’ve ever tried. Sweet but sharp. I added vanilla bean paste at the end. The vanilla really rounds out the flavour. Thank you, this is now a favourite recipe.
Hi Caroline,
I’m so glad you like this recipe! I make this crumble very often. In fact, when rhubarb and strawberries are in season, I prepare a lot of it for the freezer, just so I can make this crumble, including in the middle of winter 🙂