Rhubarb Rosemary Crisp: For Two

I'm a firm believer that desserts, especially in the form of cakes, pies, and crumbles, should be served for a crowd. It feels celebratory and it's a great way to end a meal with the ones you love. But then there are times when the middle of the week rolls around, with no place to go or people to see, and a craving strikes for something sweet with an oaty brown sugar topping smothering warm fresh fruit. 

I happened to have everything to make a rhubarb crumble and wanting to avoid the inevitable, dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the days after, I settled on making it for two. Shortening up the recipe quite a bit to make only two servings took some thinking and tweaking. At first I was worried I would end up with to much crumble topping, but after thinking about it more I thought, who ever complains about having to much crumble? I ended up with the perfect amount anyways and a tasty treat I looked forward to digging into.

Have you ever had rosemary with your rhubarb? It's amazing. They were meant to be together. It transforms a tart, sweet dessert into something sophisticated and interesting. I love my rhubarb desserts on the more tart side, then sweet. Adding sweetened whipped cream or creme fraiche adds a little extra creamy sweet touch at the end as well, but you can choose to use more sugar in the filling if you'd like. Crisps and cobblers are one of my favorite things to make in the Spring and Summer time. They're always a comfort and easy to prepare and serve.

I used spelt flour for the crumble, but feel free to substitute whole wheat or all-purpose flour if you'd like. I really liked the coconut oil in the crumble, it added another slight flavor change to the traditional butter topping, but either will be fine. Although the butter will most likely brown a little more. The ramekins will seem really full, as the rhubarb cooks it will break down and sink a bit, so don't worry if you think it will overflow.

Rhubarb Rosemary Crisp

serves 2

crumble topping

3 tablespoons spelt flour

3 tablespoons rolled oats

2 tablespoons brown sugar

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons coconut oil or cold butter

rhubarb filling

1 stalk rhubarb, chopped or about 1 full cup

1/2 teaspoon chopped rosemary

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoon cane sugar

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease 2 ramekins and set aside.

For the crumble, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Add in the coconut oil and using your fingers, mix in until crumbles start to form. Use your hand to squeeze the mixture together into one or two large clumps and place in the freezer while preparing the filling.

In a separate bowl, place the rhubarb, rosemary, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar. Stir to combine. 

Spoon the rhubarb mixture evenly into the prepared ramekins. Pull the crumble out of the freezer and spoon evenly on top of the rhubarb. 

I like to place the ramekins onto a baking sheet just in case there may be any spill-over then place in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden and the fruit is cooked and bubbly. Serve warm with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream or creme fraiche.