I love rhubarb and I’m lucky enough to have a lovely next door neighbour who shares her crop with us. It’s always big and pink and delicious (thanks Liz). A few weeks ago we were invited round to Tim’s parents for lunch and armed with a bunch of the pretty pink stuff I decided that I would make a crumble to take with us. It was a good decision.

When thinking about what to make with rhubarb, a crumble always seems like such an obvious choice don’t you think? That’s why after a few years of coming up with recipes for this blog I have avoided it. (apart from here!) But let’s face it. Rhubarb is damn good. So I decided that I would glam it up a bit – if you can call nectarines glam. We really enjoyed the crumble after our main meal. There’s something about all that crunch with a hint of marzipan that just works.

I liked this crumble so much that a few days after the meal I discovered one lone, slightly sad looking stick of rhubarb lurking at the bottom of my fridge with the peppers and onions. I decided to make a mini crumble just for me (yeah right – with Darcey in the house!) It was soooo good. This crumble translates for any amount of settings whether it’s one or 32! And if you don’t like any of these fruits just swap them in for something else. As long as you keep the weight of the fruit the same it will still work perfectly.

Nectarine and rhubarb crumble with oaty marzipan topping recipe

(serves 8-10)

For the crumble topping

• 75g plain flour
• 75g brown sugar
• 75g oats
• 75g butter- at room temperature
• 30g marzipan cut up into really little pieces

For the filling

• 10g butter
• 50g brown sugar
• 450g rhubarb – chopped into small pieces
• 350g nectarines – cut into slices.

1. Heat your oven to 180ºC (Fan 160ºC)
2. In a bowl cut the butter up into small pieces and add the sugar, flour and oats. Rub together with your fingers until completely combined but still crumbly. Add the marzipan and make sure it’s well coated. I like to squeeze a few handfuls of the mix in my fists to make larger clumps. It browns up nicely and adds to the crumbly effect. Place the crumble topping in a sandwich bag in the fridge till the filling is ready.
3. Prepare the filling by melting the butter in a deep frying pan (don’t let it get too hot- you don’t want the butter to burn). Add the sugar until it’s dissolved and then add the rhubarb and cook for 5 minutes. Set to one side to cool slightly.
4. In a separate bowl mix the rhubarb and nectarine pieces together then place in the pie dish and layer the crumble on top. Bake immediately in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes or until the crumble starts to brown around the edges.
5. Serve with a generous helping of custard and enjoy.

EmmaMT x