Sunday 2 November 2014

rhubarb, strawberry and rose water crumble with rich egg custard


there's so much to pick from my garden at the moment
cabbages
carrots
celery
cumquats
broad beans
garlic
lettuce
parsley
rainbow chard
rocket
spinach
strawberries
turnips
watercress
lots of herbs and edible flowers
and 
red red rhubarb..at last..



rhubarb, strawberry and rose water crumble with rich egg custard
tea with hazel


ingredients crumble

250 gms strawberries hulled
6-8 rhubarb stalks cut into 3 cm batons
1 tablespoon (tbs) sugar
1/2 to 1 teaspoon (tsp) rose water concentrate
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod
1/2 tbs corn flour
70 gms butter cut into dice
70 gms castor sugar
70 gms light moscovado sugar
70 gms plain flour 
2 tbs oats

method crumble

~ place rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, vanilla seeds, rose water and corn flour in a baking dish and mix gently
~ mix castor sugar, moscovado sugar, flour and oats and rub in butter
~ strew fruit with the crumble
~ bake at 180 deg for about 30 minutes or until the fruit is bubbling and the top is browned and crisp

ingredients custard

3/4 cup of full cream milk (i use organic unhomogenised)
1/4 cup pure cream
2-3 tbs extra milk
1 egg yolk
1 tbs sugar
1 1/2 tbs corn flour
1 tsp vanilla (i used home made)

method custard

~ put milk, cream and sugar onto heat
~ mix corn flour, egg yolk and extra milk to form a thin paste
~ add a few tablespoons of hot milk to the egg mix (to prevent curdling) and stir well
~ take the saucepan off the heat and add the strained egg mix
~ put the saucepan back on the heat and cook stirring until the custard just comes to the boil
~ take off the heat and add vanilla




tastes even better eaten while sitting outside in the sunshine


8 comments:

  1. Hello Jane. Wow, you have an impressive list of goodies to choose from in your garden. Is there anything better than homemade custard? I adore rhubarb too but have not managed to grow it successfully. You might have enticed me to try again. This is a delicious recipe...I could eat that lovely serving right now! x

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    1. hi jane..thanks for such a lovely comment..i've been trying to grow red rhubarb for the 7 years since i moved to my current abode..i bought 2 plants at different stages that were amazingly healthy but the stalks were green..it cooked up to ugly gloop..after lots of research and failed attempts at trying to get it to go red i gave up but my new plant and third that i bought last year is fabulous because t has lovely thinnish red stalks..rhubarb seems to like cooler temperatures so i have it planted in a southerly position where it gets shelter from the worst of the westerly heat..x

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  2. Hi Jane that sure does look good. I have rhubarb growing but the stems are green/red. Maus tell me it tastes ok. I didn't know that I should be aiming for red stalks. Do they taste different?

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  3. thanks glenda..in a blind taste test i'd probably not be able to tell the difference in flavour between the green and red rhubarb but, to me, the green stems when cooked up are awful in texture and colour..my green rhubarb used to turn into a gloopy unattractive mush..the one i have now has more body when cooked and it goes the most beautiful ruby red colour..x

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  4. What an amazing array of vegetables (and fruit?) from your garden! I sometimes think that we live in another country as there is very little in my garden at the moment. I do, however, have a nice new rhubarb baby thanks to a friend who lugged a HUGE rhubarb root up our steep driveway to hand it over and allow me to grow it. It has grown through the soil where I planted it and immediately went to flower. Not sure if that's a good thing but whatchagonnadoeh? It's rhubarb and even if it take 7 years to grow red stalks, I can wait. If this is any measure to go by, I can wait a long time. What an amazingly promising recipe and how beautiful. That custard alone is well worth the wait. Thank you for sharing this unctuous recipe. I am just about to pin it so that I never forget and everyone else can come and find it for themselves. This one needs...NEEDS sharing around :)

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    Replies
    1. thanks fran..love your enthusiasm..i tend to give rhubarb flowers the chop so the plant can put its energy into stalk production instead..x

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  5. crumble, custard, enamelware and eating outside...it doesn't get much better than that Jane. xx

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