Rhubarb Raisin Crumble

This rhubarb crumble takes a refreshingly simple approach. No butter-flour topping to cut together, no pre-cooking the fruit. Just toss sliced rhubarb with fruit-sweetened strawberry preserves, raisins, and orange zest, scatter maple walnut granola over the top, and bake.

Starting in a cold oven is an unusual technique that works here because rhubarb releases so much liquid as it heats. The gradual temperature rise gives the fruit time to break down gently and create its own juices before the oven hits full heat. The mix looks dry when it goes in, but don’t add liquid. By the 15-minute mark when you stir, there’s plenty of bubbling, tangy rhubarb juice in the pan.

Strawberry preserves do the sweetening instead of refined sugar. The fruit-sweetened kind keeps this closer to a whole-foods dessert, and the strawberry flavor is a natural partner for rhubarb. Maple syrup at the end lets each person adjust sweetness to taste, since rhubarb’s tartness varies widely from stalk to stalk.

Kitchen Tips

• Cut the rhubarb into even 1-inch pieces so it cooks uniformly. Thin stalks and thick stalks cook at different rates, so match your slicing to the thickness.
• Stir at 15 minutes to redistribute the fruit and granola. The rhubarb on the bottom cooks faster and needs to swap places with the top.
• Pull the crumble when the rhubarb is tender but still holds its shape. Overcooked rhubarb dissolves into a stringy mush.
• Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a pour of cold cream.

Variations

• Add a handful of fresh strawberries, halved, during the last 10 minutes of baking for a strawberry-rhubarb version.
• Use any flavor of granola you have on hand. Coconut or almond granola both work well here.
• Stir in ¼ teaspoon of ground cardamom with the orange zest for a Scandinavian-inspired flavor.