Rhubarb Barley Crumble

This recipe, from Feather and Flour sous chef Meagan Binkley, has a lot of potential to adapt to personal tastes and preferences. It can be made vegan by swapping out the butter for coconut oil. It works with gluten-free flours. (Cup For Cup works well, or a custom mix of gf flours.) This can easily be all rhubarb with no other fruit, though you may need to add additional sugar. Tapioca starch or AP flour can sub for the cornstarch. Have fun riffing on this basic, adaptable recipe.

INGREDIENTS

For the crumb topping:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

½ cup light brown sugar

½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup barley flour (feel free to sub with more AP flour)

¼ cup toasted and chopped pecans

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground ginger

For the filling:

2 pounds rhubarb, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces

1¼ pounds strawberries, blueberries or raspberries (fresh or frozen)

Juice and zest from ½ lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

Juice and zest from ½ orange (about 2 tablespoons)

¾ cup granulated sugar (add more if your fruit is on the tart side)

¼ cup cornstarch

¼ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, to serve

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

For the crumb topping, cream together the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. On low speed, add in the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until combined and a rough crumb topping comes together. Place it in the fridge while you make the filling. For the filling, in a large bowl, combine the rhubarb, berries, lemon juice, orange juice, vanilla, sugar, cornstarch and salt. The filling will get juicy. Pour the filling and accumulated juices into a 9-by-13-inch pan. Arrange the crumb topping over the filling. Place the dish onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until the juices are bubbling and thickened, and the topping is a golden brown. 45-55 minutes. Cool on a rack for 30 minutes. Serve warm or chilled, with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.