Sue Lawrence’s Rhubarb Crumble with Ginger Mascarpone

Last week we had rhubarb in a savoury dish. This weekend we’re back to its more normal use as a dessert ingredient. I invited the very lovely and very talented Sue Lawrence to contribute a recipe. What sort of recipe, she asked? Anything, I replied, but seasonal would be nice. Easy, she said, has to be rhubarb. We’ve done crumbles before, but the addition of the ginger mascarpone is the real genius of this dish.

Ingredients

For the crumble

900g rhubarb, chopped into sections about 2.5 cm long; 125g golden caster sugar; 2 tbsp ginger syrup (from a jar of stem ginger in syrup); 175g plain flour, sifted (or 150g flour + 25g ground almonds); 100g butter, diced.

For the ginger mascarpone

250g mascarpone; 1 tbsp finely chopped stem ginger.

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Place the rhubarb in an oven dish. Sprinkle over 50g sugar and 1 tbsp ginger syrup. Place the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter, until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the remaining 75g sugar. Tip the crumble mixture over the rhubarb and pat down gently; do not press hard. Bake in a preheated oven (200°C/Mark 6) for about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Beat together the mascarpone, chopped ginger and 1 tbsp syrup. Serve the crumble in pudding bowls with a generous dollop of mascarpone.

Sue Lawrence is an award winning food writer and novelist. Unlike many food writers, she really can walk the walk, a winner of one of the earliest series of Masterchef. Since then she has achieved great success as a writer, noted for her promotion of traditional Scottish recipes and regional produce. She won the prestigious Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award in 2003. Her latest novel, Down to the Sea, is published this month, and her latest cookery book, A Taste of Scotland’s Islands, will be published in August by Birlinn.