Friday, August 14, 2009

Following Chef Christine's Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

I so wanted to make this strawberry-rhubarb crumble that chef Christine posted, but when I was ready to make this, we just got out of strawberry season. I don't remember why but I had to make cupcakes and used up last batch of fresh local strawberries. I thought I was out of luck till next year. Then last thursday, I was given a second chance.

Dave of Blue Mountain Farms brought ever-bearing strawberries at downtown farmer's market. They looked a little firm but still smelled wonderful. My rhubarb plant is still going strong, we always have lemon at hands, so with strawberries, rhubarb and lemon, I was ready to make this fabulous cake.
Please follow chef Christine's recipe word by word. I made this cake on Monday night after work, after dinner, while fighting my allergies. Hopefully that explains why I used 9 by 9 pan instead of 9 by 13 and the cake looks much thick rather than nice thin as chef Christine had.
Yeon pointing at her 9 by 13 pan: "Dan, is this pan 9 by 13? It looks awfully big." (Please remember I grew up with meters and centimeters and sometimes I still get confused).
Dan: That's not 9 by 13. It is bigger than that. (He has no excuse. He was probably not paying attention).
Yeon: "Okay. I guess I will use a smaller pan then."

I had minor modification as far as ingredients go:
  • I had only 1 1/2 cups of fresh strawberries, and my rhubarb stalks are mostly green with red hue, which meant strawberry-rhubarb mixture was going to lack strawberry flavor and color. I added 3 tablespoon of home-made strawberry-balsamic jam to enhance color and flavor.
  • When I combined wet ingredients together for cake batter, I added fresh lemon peels from one lemon. I cut down sugar to 3/4 cup in dry ingredient for the cake.
I placed a parchment paper and buttered it so that I can take the cake pieces out easily. I am not sure if it was necessary step or not, but they do come out very easily.

It is a wonderful recipe. Since it requires cooking strawberries and rhubarb briefly, I could try making it with frozen strawberries. And yes, I have a good amount strawberries that I froze this spring. Did I mention my rhubarb plant is still going strong?

Yeon

4 comments:

smoo said...

This looks gorgeous. Too bad it has gluten in it :(

Yeon said...

Shannon,

I am pretty sure you will find recipes that are gluten-free and also learn how to substitute wheat flours with certain other gluten-free flours. I will keep a close eye on gluten-free recipes and books I run into. Common market carries a magazine called Living Without. I bought an issue a while ago and was impressed.

Chef Christine said...

Yay! Finally - someone made the crumble. I'll be over in a bit to have some because It. Looks. Awesome.

9x13 is important, and truthfully, I never had a problem getting the cake out of the pan and into my belly. ;) This one comes out in a snap. However, you can never go wrong with buttered parchment.

Yeon - did you love it? Please say yes.

Yeon said...

Chef Christine: Of course YES! Dan and I loved it so much it is all gone now. Next time I will stick to 9 by 13. Thank you so much for the great recipe!! I will follow up if I make it with frozen strawberries.