A delicious rhubarb and apple crumble that combines the tartness of rhubarb with the sweetness of apples, topped with a comforting crumble topping. Serve it with custard, vanilla sauce, or vanilla ice cream.
Rhubarb and apple crumble is a classic British dessert that is popular during the spring and early summer months when rhubarb is in season.
Check out more delicious crumble recipes, like this Black Currant and Apple Crumble or the Gooseberry Crumble. Or try more of my Rhubarb Recipes.
Ingredients: 9 | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Servings: 4-6 | Difficulty: Easy
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Recipe ingredients
- Rhubarb trimmed and cut into small pieces. The leaves are poisonous; always discard them.Â
- Apples: Cored and chopped.
- Choose sweet apples that are firm, fresh, and suitable for baking to ensure they hold up well during the cooking process. A few popular choices are Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Honeycrisp.
- Make this Apple Rhubarb Crisp next.
- Sugar: The amount of sugar can be adjusted depending on the sweetness of the fruit.
- You can also sweeten the filling with brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or xylitol.Â
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make apple and rhubarb crumble?
- Chop: Clean and chop the rhubarb. Core and cube the apples (1).
- Sauté the fresh rhubarb and the apples in one tablespoon of melted butter on medium heat for 2 minutes (use a large pan) (2).
- Add cinnamon and sugar and cook for another 2-3 minutes (3).
- The apples will remain more or less whole, while the rhubarb will almost disintegrate and form a kind of sauce for the apples.
- Taste and adjust the flavor with a little bit more sugar or honey, if necessary. Pour the mixture into a medium-sized casserole dish (4).
- Toast the almonds in a small pan. Transfer them to a large plate and let them cool shortly (5).
- Rub the flour and the chopped butter in a large bowl until you obtain crumbs (6).
- Add the sugar and most of the almonds. Rub the flour mixture again (7).
- Top the fruit mixture with the crumble mixture and sprinkle it with the remaining almonds (8).
- Bake the rhubarb and apple crumble in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown (9).
Tips
Discard the rhubarb's leaves; they are poisonous.
Toast the almonds lightly before adding them to ensure they remain crunchy during baking.
Storage
Make ahead: You can prepare it in advance and refrigerate it until ready to bake. However, it is best to assemble and bake the dessert close to the time you plan to serve it.
Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Reheat in the oven until warmed through.
Freeze the crumble: Let it come to room temperature, wrap it tightly in aluminum foil, or place it in an airtight container. Freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator overnight and reheat in the oven until warmed through.
How to serve?
Serve on its own: Rhubarb apple crumble is delicious enough to be enjoyed on its own.
Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Serve with custard, vanilla sauce, or whipped cream. The rhubarb and apple crumble in the picture is served with our homemade vanilla sauce.
Serve with a mixture of creme fraiche and brown sugar or with warm caramel sauce.
Rhubarb Apple Crumble
Equipment
- Large pan
- Medium baking dish
Ingredients
- 12.5 oz rhubarb
- 1 lb apples Note 1
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar Note 2
- ½ cup almonds slivered or chopped
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- custard or vanilla sauce or vanilla ice cream to serve
Instructions
Make the filling:
- Prepare ingredients: Discard the rhubarb's leaves; they are poisonous. Clean the rhubarb and chop it into slices about 0.5 inch/ 1.5 cm thick. Core and chop the apples into cubes. 12.5 oz rhubarb + 1 lb apples
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/ 200°C.
- Sauté: Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the rhubarb and the apples for 2 minutes. Add cinnamon and sugar (or honey) and continue cooking until all the liquid has evaporated; 2-3 minutes. The apples will remain more or less whole, while the rhubarb will almost disintegrate and form a kind of sauce for the apples.1 tablespoon unsalted butter + 1 teaspoon cinnamon + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Taste and adjust the flavor with a little bit more sugar or honey, if necessary. Pour the mixture into the baking dish.
Make the crumble:
- Toast the almonds in a small pan without adding any fat. Keep an eye on them and shake the pan regularly. Transfer to a plate as soon as they get golden and fragrant. ½ cup almonds
- Crumble: Place the flour and the chopped butter into a bowl. Rub with your fingers until you obtain crumbs. Add the sugar and about ⅔ of the almonds and mix.1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour + 1 stick unsalted butter + 3 tablespoons granulated sugar + ⅔ of the almonds
- Distribute the crumble evenly over the rhubarb-apple mixture in the baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining almonds.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown.
- Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature with custard or vanilla sauce, or vanilla ice cream.
Notes
- Apples: Firm, fresh, and suitable for baking (to ensure they hold up well during the cooking process). A few popular choices are Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Braeburn, or Honeycrisp.
- Sweetener: To sweeten the crumble filling, use brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, or xylitol instead of sugar.
Jayne says
Do you need to defrost the apples and rhubarb before measuring them out?
Adina says
Hi Jayne. Measure more if the rhubarb is frozen, it will loose weight when defrosted. Between 400-450 g, you don't have to be too exact about the quantity here.
Cheryl says
How much is a knob of butter? I have bags and bags of frozen rhubarb and bags of apples, gift from the neighbor that has a tree full of apples. This would be perfect to use up this fruit.
Adina says
Hi Cheryl. A knob of butter is about as large as the upper part of your thumb, a bit more or less doesn't really matter. I hope you like the crumble.?
Anca says
I love apple crumble and rhubarb crumble, so I should make an apple&rhubarb crumble too 🙂 It's a really lovely idea. xx
Kate says
Crumbles are my absolute favorite desserts! Warm with ice cream they're just heavenly! Can't wait to try this one.
Brie says
I have no idea how to choose which of your rhubarb recipes to make first each one looks sooo delicious! What a fun twist on an apple crumble and I love the almond crumble topping. Now that I know I can freeze rhubarb I'm going to make this for our next Christmas potluck!
Evi @ greenevi says
I'm so happy you remembered it and made this lovely crumble recipe again! I also haven't made any for ages but I totally crave it now 🙂
Such a great idea adding almond on top!
Kathy @ Beyond the Chicken Coop says
Rhubarb is one of my favorites. I love the tartness but I also love that it is ready in the early spring! There's nothing better than having something fresh from the garden. This crumble sounds delicious!