Preparation
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cup rhubarb, cut into 1” pieces
Ice cream or whipped cream, optional
Mix cinnamon, flour, brown sugar, rolled oats and butter together until crumbly; press half the mixture into a buttered, 10” glass pie dish, and set aside remaining half of crumbled mixture. Place fresh rhubarb into pressed shell; set aside.
In a saucepan combine:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cold water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 to 6 drops red food coloring
Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine sugar, vanilla, water and cornstarch together in a medium size sauce pan. Cook mixture over medium heat until thick and clear, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add food coloring, if desired. Pour cooked mixture over the rhubarb; top with remaining crumb mixture.
Bake for 1 hour, or until fruit is bubbling and top is golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired. Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Cook’s Note: Adjustment for making BLUEBERRY RHUBARB CRISP (as shown), gently combine 3 cups rhubarb with 1 cup fresh blueberries for crisp filling. Omit food coloring, the blueberries will add flavor and plenty of color.
I tried this dessert a few days ago, and it is really delicious. I did however find that it is quite sweet. I think that you could easily decrease the amount of brown sugar that it calls for and it would still be fabulous. I also found that it did not take as long to cook as the recipe calls for, so when making it you might want to start checking it after about half the time. I am the only one in my house who likes rhubarb so I had to eat the whole thing myself. Darn!