Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Recipe
A simple spring crumble - rhubarb, strawberry, and a splash of port wine with a buttery black pepper, pine nut and oat crumble top. Sounds a bit fancy, but really, it couldn't be easier to make.

You all know by now how much I love a rustic, family-style dessert. And really, the list of desserts that fit the bill better than a simple fruit crumble is short. For those of you who've never attempted a crumble, it's quite simple. Start with fresh seasonal fruit, top it with crumbled dough, and into the oven it goes. Before you know it, golden-topped dollops of baked goodness are crisping up in a shallow sea of bubbling fruit. In this version I combined rhubarb, strawberry, and a splash of port wine with a buttery black pepper, pine nut and oat crumble. Sounds a bit fancy, but really, it couldn't be easier to make.
With this particular crumble, you can prep the ingredients up to ahead of time if you like. Combine the dry ingredients, cover, and set aside. Chop the fruit, cover, and refrigerate. The rest of it comes together in a flash whenever you're ready to assemble the crumble and bake it off.
Enjoy the crumble, I know many of you are seeing rhubarb and strawberries in your markets. Looking forward to sharing some highlights (and photos) from my Portland trip when I get back and get unpacked. -h
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
Feel free to experiment with the amount of sugar in this based on how sweet your berries are. For example, try it with 1/2 cup sugar tossed with the fruit, and make note - you might want it more/less sweet the next time around.
- butter for greasing skillet/pan (about 1 tablespoon)
- 3/4 cup / 3 oz / 85 g spelt or wwp flour
- 2/3 cup / 3 oz / 85 pine nuts, lightly toasted
- 1/2 cup / 1.5 oz / 45 g rolled oats
- 1/2 cup / 2 oz / 60 g natural cane sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup / 2.5 oz / 75 g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 cup / 2 oz / 60 g natural cane sugar (or Muscovado sugar)
- 1/2 lb. / 8 ounces / 225 g hulled medium strawberries, cut into quarters
- 12 ounces trimmed rhubarb, sliced into 3/4-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup / 60 ml port wine (optional)
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Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C, with a rack in the middle. Butter a 10-inch round gratin dish (pictured), or a 9x9 square baking dish.
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Combine the flour, pine nuts, oats, sugar, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Use a fork to stir in the butter, squeeze into a few patties, then place in the freezer to chill at least ten minutes.
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Make the filling by whisking together the cornstarch and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the strawberries and rhubarb, and toss until evenly coated. Wait three minutes, add the port and toss again. Transfer the filling to the prepared pan, remove the topping from the freezer, and crumble across the top of the filling - make sure you have big pieces and small.
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Bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or until the topping is deeply golden and the fruit juices are vigorously bubbling. You'll want to let things cool a bit before serving, 20 - 30 minutes.
Serves a small crowd, 8 - 12 servings.
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Comments
Oh, oh, oh!!! Hm, I bet this would be wonderful with a dash of balsamic vinegar with the fruit & sugar. I am crazy about balsamic & black pepper with strawberries. I don't do spelt or wheat, so I would likely grind some oats to a flour. Rice flour would be a nice crunchy texture.
Good one! I am growing my very first strawberries this year, and if I can keep the crows off of them this is a recipe I will try and make with them. There really is nothing better than a fruit crumble. Thanks Heidi!
What a wonderful, easy rustic-style recipe! I have never used rhubarb before (very surprisingly), so I will have to try this! xo K
I like my rhubarb "straight", with no other fruit combined with it. I am frequently served this-and-that having blends of fruits almost pureed together, and I often can't understand why one or the other wasn't used alone. This is certainly not a criticism; it's just something I myself have never understood. I guess I'll just have to do this recipe three times: with rhubarb alone, then again with strawberries alone, then with both blended. Now that sounds like fun!
I had some beautiful rhubarb that I used in a chutney and now I can't find any more. I wish I had saved it to make this!
Decadent! I have never baked rhubarb anything - why is it always with strawberries? Or have I been missing the many other combinations out there?
I am going to make this for my daughter's birthday celebration this weekend. She will love it!!
Strawberries and rhubarb make such a great flavour combination. I'd like to see a different combo with rhubarb though for a bit more variety.
I'm proudly the crumble queen, so this mix of black pepper, strawberries AND rhubarb is one i'm going to have to try!!!!many thanks Heidi :-) your a ledgend!!!!!!! To ronny re: diabetic crumble version, using stevia in the crumble should be fine,it's not essential for the structure of the dough.I usually use a few tsp of melted honey or maple syrup instead of sugar, and it's very forgiving.I don't like it too sweet,so i'd give stevia a go for sure, good luck :-)
This looks perfect to end a sunny day!
This looks outstanding and easy! two things I love. Going to give it a good as both rhubarb and strawberries are extremely cheap and tasty right now!
Just made a strawberry rhubarb crumble this week! The recipes I gathered don't stand up at all next to yours... thanks for posting! I look forward to round 2 with your awesome ingredient list.
This is my mother's favorite pie...she loves strawberry rhubarb and it's so difficult to find in the markets and bakery...thanks Heidi...perfect and just in time for Mother's Day!
Yum! I just put some strawberry/rhubarb "sauce" in the freezer. I think I will take it out again and add this topping. I'm gluten free, but I think sweet sorghum flour will do fine in place of the spelt since rising is not much of an issue with crumbles! I'll report back with the results!
Crumble is my favourite dessert and best way to use rhubarb! I love the addition of port wine and black pepper that push an ordinary crumble to a higher level. I just bought rhubarb at farmers market. Can't wait to try this recipe!
WOW! Your recipes are amazing. My mouth is always watering when viewing your blog. Thanks.
Incredible timing! We have some rhubarb and were going to make our first ever strawberry rhubarb pie this weekend, but our schedule was not going to allow us much time, and we were seriously intimidated. Thank you for providing an easy solution!!
looks heavenly, I can't wait to give this a whirl!
It is that time and my rhubarb is ready for ample recipe testing and I do believe this may be the first one I'll take on. Thanks!
I love these flavors, rhubarb is so old-fashioned so I always feel very home-makery when I use it. I like that this recipe doesn't use tooooo much butter.