Spoon & Shutter

Rhubarb, Apple and Pomegranate Crumble

From Susan: About a week ago, the nice folks at POM Wonderful sent us samples of their super-healthy, 100% pure pomegranate juice. I immediately thought about baking something, say, pie or a cobbler, since pomegranates combine so well with other fruit. I hadn’t yet indulged my seasonal fondness for rhubarb, so bought some on spec and started hunting for recipes. The one I decided to work from, Orange Rhubarb Crumble, found in U.S.A. Cookbook by the late, great Sheila Lukins, called for 8 cups of rhubarb, which I did not have and wasn’t about to run out and find at 7:30 a.m. Checking out the other fruit in the fridge … strawberries? No, too juicy. Apples? They could work. One of my all-time favorite, homey desserts is my mother’s apple crisp; she slices the apples thinly and leaves the peel on – which adds texture, color and nutrition. (That sounds good, doesn’t it? I did it here because I just didn’t feel like peeling the apples …)

My new recipe gets a health boost from the POM Wonderful juice, but also from whole wheat pastry flour, which I used because I had it on hand. Unbleached white flour is fine too; regular whole wheat flour would, I think, result in a too-tough crumb topping.

The rhubarb

The apples

The "secret ingredient " - POM Wonderful

The crumble

Side view before baking

Rhubarb, Apple and Pomegranate Crumble

4 cups fresh rhubarb, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces (if fresh rhubarb is not available, thawed, frozen rhubarb works just fine)

4 cups tart apples, thinly sliced

1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or unbleached white flour)

3/4 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup granulated sugar

finely grated zest of 1 orange

1/3 cup POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice

2 tbsp. cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, oatmeal, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or your fingers (my preferred method). Add the pecans and egg and mixed until well-combined.

Combine the rhubarb and apple slices, granulated sugar and orange zest in a 3-qt. baking dish. In a small bowl, stir the pomegranate juice into the cornstarch, blending well, then add to the fruit mixture, tossing thoroughly to coat.

Distribute the crumb topping evenly over the fruit. Bake in the center of the oven until golden and bubbling, approx. 1 hour. Allow to cool slightly before serving –  with vanilla ice cream or heavy cream, or just plain is delicious too! I scooped up a spoonful as I was running out the door to work, and it was exactly what I had in mind: sweet and tart, a good blend of all three fruit flavors, with a crunchy, buttery crumb.