Freshly tugged from the garden, rhubarb awaits chopping.
(Neighbor Nancy wipes the tiniest glisten of drool from the corner of her mouth as she shares this recipe. While the aroma of a fresh batch of Rhubarb Crunch fills her little home, she digs in the freezer for vanilla ice cream.)
Ah, rhubarb crunch time. It means that spring is officially here. It means that I must make sure the strawberries are doing well. For all too soon, the last of the rhubarb will be mixed with the first of the strawberries to make batches of Strawberry Rhubarb jam for Christmas presents.
From my earliest childhood memories, Spring covered dish Suppers always required a batch of Rhubarb Crunch.
I have had it covered in cream, drizzled with vanilla sauce. Hot. Cold. Scraped from the final bits of the pan. But, hot out of the oven with a single scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream … (sigh) … heavenly.
So from the depths of the family recipe box…(oh my, is this a crusty well-loved recipe card?! ) … here we go.
Rhubarb Crunch
Ingredients:
Crunch bottom and topping:
1+1/4 cup Flour
1 cup rolled Oats, quick or regular
1+1/4 cup Brown Sugar
10 Tablespoons Butter, melted
Fruit Mixture:
4 heaping cups Rhubarb, diced
1 cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1 cup Water
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Procedure:
In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, and melted butter.
Press about half of this mixture into the bottom of a 9″x 13″pan. Set the rest aside.
Cover with all the diced rhubarb. Set aside
In a small sauce pan, combine the white sugar and cornstarch.
Over medium low heat, stir in the water. Heat and stir, until it boils and becomes clear and smooth.
Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour the entire mixture over the rhubarb in the pan.
Cover with the remaining oat mixture. This, of course is the “crunch” part.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit ( a medium oven ) for 1 hour.
Serve it warm or cold.
Top it with cream, vanilla sauce or ice cream.
Warning: Beware of the Rhubarb Crunch phenomenon. Do not tell jokes while eating this dessert, because as you laugh,it will feel like your jaw will blow off. The more you laugh the more it hurts. No one knows why and it happens every time.
So, with what are you going to top your batch?
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