Rhubarb Crumble (English)

Delicate, slender stems of early forced Rhubarb appearing in the shops in January is always cause for celebration and what better way to use them than in a traditional Rhubarb Crumble recipe. Some of the best recipes for rhubarb are traditional "nursery-style-food" with the best example being crumble recipes, served, of course, with custard. The telling sign of fresh, forced rhubarb is not only its bright colour; the stalks should be firm and upright, the leaves a pale yellow and never black. This recipe uses slim stalks of forced rhubarb, however, you can also use outdoor when forced is not in season. You will need less than the 12 stalks mentioned in the ingredients as outdoor rhubarb tends to be much thicker, 6 chunky stalks should be enough.

Rhubarb:
12 stalks of fresh rhubarb, washed, cut into 2" (5 cm) pieces
4 Tbsp. water
8 Tbsp. fine sugar
3 Tbsp. port (optional)

Crumble:
4 oz butter, cut into small cubes (110 g)
4 oz fine sugar (110 g)
6 oz all-purpose flour, unbleached (180 g)
walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4).

Place the rhubarb, water, sugar and port into a 1½" (4 cm) deep ovenproof dish.

In a baking bowl rub the butter, sugar, flour together until it resembles fine sand, then sprinkle over the rhubarb. Sprinkle chopped walnuts, if desired.

Bake in the preheated oven until light brown on the surface, approximately 45 minutes - 1 hour.

Serve piping hot from the oven with custard sauce.