Lemon Rhubarb Crumble

A number of years ago, when I immersed myself into the world of food blogging little did I realise what a wonderful and significant step this was going to be for me. My love for photographing and writing about food naturally deepened, but what has come as the greatest surprise to me are the friends I have made, as a result of my musing on the computer. This coming weekend I'll have the opportunity to catch-up with many of my blogging buddies, as The Kerrygold Ballymloe Lit Fest of Food & Wine is kicking off on Friday. It has to be the most anticipated food event of the year, and I'm proud to say that I'm parttaking in two seperate panel discussions. If you would like to book a spot, head over to the Litfest website. It's sure to be a truly memorable weekend. If you can't make it to Cork, but would like to keep up with some Litfest related news, I'll be tweeting all about it at @Nessa_Robins or follow the hashtag #litfestie.

One of my blogging friends, that I'm looking forward to having a good chat with this weekend, is Kristin Jensen. Kristin is the wonderful writer of the blog ‘Edible Ireland’. She is based in Louth but originally hails from America. Kristin and I have become great friends, through our mutual love of food, but we also have children of a similar age, which makes for the organisation of perfect play dates, while we catch-up. On one such occasion Kristin gifted me with a lemon blueberry buckle. A buckle is a traditional American dessert which has a thick crust, is filled with fruit, and finished with a crumble topping. With so many delicious elements it’s a truly splendid dessert. My recipe I'm sharing with you today, even though it’s really just a simple crumble, resembles many elements of Kristin’s Buckle. For that zingy lemon undertone I’ve added some lemon zest to both the rhubarb and the crumble. To exaggerate the lemon flavour even more, I’ve included a few sprigs of lemon thyme to the rhubarb while it stews. The lemon thyme grows in abundance in my garden, but if you can’t get your hands on any, simply add a little extra lemon zest. One marvellous tip I received from Kristin was to part-freeze the crumble topping, which ultimately leads to a crunchier crumble top. So now whenever I make a crumble, of any variety, I pop the topping into the freezer, while I prepare the filling, and I’m always reminded of the value of friendships, old and new.

Lemon Rhubarb Crumble

Ingredients

Crumble

150g butter

250g plain flour

150g caster sugar

zest of 1 lemon

Filling

600g rhubarb, sliced into bite size pieces

100g caster sugar

zest of 1 lemon

4 sprigs of lemon thyme

2 tbsp water

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 6.

2. To prepare the crumble, place the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and the lemon zest, and combine. Place the crumble mixture into the freezer until you have the rhubarb stewed.

3. Place the rhubarb, sugar, lemon zest, lemon thyme and water into a medium sized saucepan. Bring to the boil, and then turn down the heat, cover and allow to simmer for  two minutes, until the rhubarb has slightly softened.

4. Scoop out the sprigs of lemon thyme. Spoon the stewed rhubarb into a large ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the chilled crumble mixture and place the dish on a baking tray. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 35-40 minutes, until the crumble topping is golden brown and the rhubarb is bubbling around the edges. Serve with freshly whipped cream or custard.