This easy-to-make cherry rhubarb crisp has a crunchy pistachio crumble topping that pairs nicely with the sweet tart fruit filling.
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This post was sponsored by California Grown. I was compensated for this post and for developing the recipe. However, all opinions below are completely my own.
A simple poke around my blog here will show you that I have a healthy obsession with rhubarb, a tart and sour vegetable that is often paired with strawberry. I’ve used that classic combo to make strawberry rhubarb pie, strawberry rhubarb galette, strawberry rhubarb buckle cake with cheesecake topping, strawberry rhubarb simple syrup, and strawberry rhubarb cobbler. But I love rhubarb so much that I’ve paired it with other fruit for recipes like my blueberry rhubarb pie, rhubarb mixed berry slab pie, and rhubarb Meyer lemon bundt cake.
So you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to do a farm tour with California Grown to visit a farm that grew rhubarb! During our trip in the Santa Cruz area, our group went to Gilroy Gardens, an agricultural-themed amusement park where I spun in giant garlic clove, rode artichokes and watched animatronic lettuce serenade us. Then we visited Christopher Ranch, walking amongst their heirloom garlic being grown in the field and saw how garlic is processed in the plant. Fun fact: California grow 90% of the domestically produced garlic, and you can always tell garlic is US grown by the attached roots at the bottom of the head of garlic.
Finally, we ended our tour at Sea to Sky Farm which grew all sort of fruit and produce, including sweet potatoes, blueberries, Blenheim apricots, and rhubarb. Picking my own rhubarb was just one more step in me achieving my life goal of becoming a rhubarb influencer! With the sack of freshly harvested rhubarb from the farm, I couldn’t wait to get to my kitchen to make this sweet cherry rhubarb crisp with pistachio crumble that I knew would be a hit with all my friends.
What is Rhubarb?
If you aren’t familiar rhubarb, you still might have eaten it in the form of strawberry rhubarb pie, a popular late Spring and early Summer dessert. Rhubarb technically is a vegetable, though it often gets used like a fruit, and is fairly tart, sour and acidic. Because of this, it’s most commonly paired with sweet red strawberries. But you can easily pair it with other fruit like blackberries, blueberries, or cherries. Rhubarb looks a bit like red celery, with tall stalks that are bright red. That said, some varieties of rhubarb are more green rather than red. This has nothing to do with the ripeness of the rhubarb. The color has more to do with the variety of rhubarb, and it all pretty much taste the same regardless of the color.
When you buy rhubarb, you’ll notice the green leaves are typically cut off of the stalk. This is because the leaves of rhubarb are toxic and shouldn’t be eaten. But don’t be concerned! The main toxic component in rhubarb leaves is oxalic acid, which is a commonly occurring acid in a lot of vegetables like spinach and kale. You have to eat anywhere from 6 to 11 pounds of rhubarb leaves for it to be fatal. So, a stray leaf or two won’t harm you, and at most will just lead to a stomachache. Regardless though, if you do end up buying rhubarb or harvesting them (like I did!) be sure to cut off the leaves and dispose of them just in case. The rhubarb stalk itself is totally edible.
Rhubarb season starts around late April and usually goes through June, though you can sometimes get a second harvest, and hothouse grown rhubarb is also grown, which can extend rhubarb season. If you search around, you can sometimes also find frozen rhubarb that you can enjoy all year round, or buy extra rhubarb when it’s in season, slice it up, and freeze it on a baking tray until frozen solid, and then store the pieces in a resealable plastic bag for up to 6 months, to use later.
How do you make this crisp?
Crisps are one of the easiest fruit desserts to make and are great for a crowd. This particular cherry rhubarb crisp recipe comes together super fast. First make the crumb topping by chopping or crushing pistachios (in a freezer resealable Ziploc bag) and then tossing the nuts with oats, flour, white and brown sugar, turbinado sugar (for crunch), spices like cinnamon, ground ginger, black pepper and salt. Drizzle melted butter over the dry ingredients, mixing until they start to clump together, you can’t see any dry powdery ingredients, and the melted butter has been absorbed.
Then mix together chopped rhubarb, pitted and halved sweet cherries, a grated apple, chopped crystallized ginger, white sugar, tapioca starch, balsamic vinegar, vanilla and almond extract, ground cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and salt. Pour the filling into a 4-quart casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes in a 375°F oven. After 30 minutes, pull it out of the oven, sprinkle the crumb topping over the filling, and return to the oven for an additional 25 to 35 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling. Cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Substitutions
Though I always recommend making the recipe as is, I get that some folks want to customize or make it their own. Here are a few suggestions for that.
- Spices: I use a blend of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and black pepper in this recipe. But warm spices like cardamom, nutmeg, coriander, or allspice would be lovely in this recipe. Feel free to substitute and use up to 2 teaspoons of whatever spice you love in the crumb topping and 1 1/2 teaspoons of spices in the filling.
- Tapioca Starch/Flour: Tapioca starch is my thickener of choice because it works well with acidic fillings and has a clean flavor that lets the fruit shine through. You can easily swap out the same amount of cornstarch or arrowstarch if you wish. I also added a grated green apple to this filling, to naturally thicken the filling, as apple has pectin. If you skip the grated apple, I suggest increasing the tapioca starch (or starch of your choice) to 8 tablespoons instead of the 6 in the recipe. You might also want to add 2 more tablespoons of sugar as well.
- Frozen fruit: If rhubarb or sweet cherries aren’t in season, you can easily swap out the fresh fruit for frozen fruit. Increase the tapioca starch (or other starch you use) by 1 tablespoon for frozen rhubarb or frozen cherries, and 2 tablespoons if you use all frozen fruit. This is because the frozen fruit will shed more water when it thaws.
- Gluten free/Vegan: If you are gluten free or vegan, you can easily swap out the all-purpose flour with your favorite gluten free all-purpose flour mix. Be sure to also use certified gluten-free oats as well in the topping to guarantee a gluten free dessert. If you are vegan or allergic to dairy, just swap out the butter with a plant-based butter like Miyokos plant milk butter.
How to Store the Crisp
Any leftovers can be covered and refrigerated for up to 1 week. Just rewarm the leftovers in a 300°F oven for 20 minutes, or until it has warmed through.
If you like this cherry rhubarb crisp, here are a few other rhubarb recipes
- Rhubarb Chutney
- Meyer Lemon Shaker Tart wth Strawberry and Rhubarb
- Lemongrass and Rhubarb Cheesecake
- Plum and Rhubarb Cobbler
- Rhubarb Blueberry Oatmeal Bars
And here are a few other Summer fruit recipes you should check out:
- Cherry and Apricot Slab Pie
- Cherry Almond Muffins
- Sweet Cherry Slab Pie
- Sweet Cherry, Black Plum and Yellow Peach Cobbler
- Blueberry Pie
- Peach Cobbler
- Peach Slab Pie
- Raspberry Oat Bars
Cherry Rhubarb Crisp with Pistachio Crumble Topping
Ingredients
Crumb topping
- 2 cups shelled raw pistachios 250 g
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 105 g
- 1/2 cup rolled oats 55 g
- 1/2 cup white sugar 100 g
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 55 g
- 2 tablespoon Turbinado sugar can substitute brown sugar if you wish
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
Fruit filling
- 2 pounds rhubarb, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces 905 g
- 2 pounds cherries, pitted and halved 905 g
- 1 medium green apple, like a Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and grated through the large hole of a box grater 175 g
- 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger 50 g (optional but recommended)
- 1/2 cup white sugar 100 g
- 6 tablespoon tapioca starch 55 g (can substitute cornstarch)
- 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract optional but recommended
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Make the crumb topping by first coarsely chopping the pistachios. You can also place the pistachios in a resealable freezer Ziploc bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Place the chopped or crushed pistachios in a medium-sized bowl with the flour, rolled oats, sugar, brown sugar, turbinado sugar (if using), cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and salt. Stir with a fork to mix together.
Drizzle the melted butter over the ingredients and toss with the fork until the butter has been absorbed and starts to clump together. Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
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Make the filling placing the rhubarb, pitted cherries, grated apple, crystallized ginger, sugar, tapioca starch, Balsamic vinegar, vanilla, almond extract (if using), cinnamon, ginger, black pepper and salt in a large bowl. Toss together to coat the fruit and mix the ingredients.
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Pour all the ingredients into a large casserole dish 4-quart casserole dish (ceramic or glass is best here). Bake the filling, uncovered without the crumb topping, for 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle the crumb topping all over the top of the filling, breaking up any big boulder chunks with your fingers, but keeping smaller chunks together (it’s a crumble!). Return to the hot oven and continue to bake 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and boiling under the crumb topping.
Let cool for 30 minutes before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream if you wish.
Nutrition
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