Tangy rhubarb combined with sweet strawberries and blueberries makes for a delicious combination. This recipe for berry rhubarb crumble won a $5,000 prize, and after eating it I can see why!
It’s hard for me to decide which I like better. This prize winning rhubarb crumble or this blueberry cobbler!
Prize Winning Rhubarb Crumble
I have a story to tell you about this tasty dessert and how I ended up with it. I run a recipe/food Facebook group for this blog. One of the members of that group is Pat Harmon, and she’s a “recipe contester”. That means she creates recipes and enters them into contests. And she doesn’t just enter, she wins!
Pat recently posted her “Very Berry Rhubarb Cobbler” in the group. As it turns out this recipe had been a $5,000 prize winner in 1997. Pat told me she had been a contester for a few years before entering into Reddi-Wip’s “50 Fruit Salute”. This contest offered $50 prizes, one winner per state, and a grand prize of $5,000.
She had already been a finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-Off (and would go on to the finals two more times) before coming up with this recipe.
“I was a big fan of rhubarb and strawberries together, so I changed it up a bit by adding blueberries. Inspired by an apple crisp topping I had tried, I added almonds to mine. I received two letters in the mail the same day. One said I had been chosen for the $50 Pennsylvania prize and the other said I had won the grand prize as well!”
Rhubarb Crumble Recipe
A couple weeks ago I was at the farmer’s market and there was a vendor with big bundles of fresh rhubarb. I never learned how to grow rhubarb, so I knew if I wanted to take advantage of rhubarb season I had better grab some! I’ve only made a couple rhubarb desserts in my life time, so I was excited to try Pat’s.
A little about the name. Pat’s recipe is titled Very Berry Rhubarb Cobbler and I’ve called it Prize Winning Rhubarb Crumble. There’s definitely some debate among bakers on whether something should be called a cobbler, crisp, crumble, grunt, etc.
A crisp usually has oats in the topping, a cobbler is a biscuit topping dropped on top of the fruit (it looks like a cobbled road), and a crumble doesn’t have oats, but can have nuts. So to keep the peace in Internetland, I’m going with “crumble”.
The Ingredients you will need
This recipe is really easy to throw together. With the bundle of rhubarb I picked up, I could make 3 of these babies!
- Fresh rhubarb, either from the farmer’s market, your garden, or the grocery store.
- Fresh Strawberries and blueberries are best for this recipe. Frozen fruit can be used, but you may want to thaw them and drain the excess liquid first. If using frozen berries you may need to increase the cornstarch a little.
- Regular granulated white sugar is used in this crumble. Brown sugar would be a fun alternative.
- You’ll need cornstarch to thicken the sauce that magically comes from the berries, and some balsamic vinegar.
- The dry topping ingredients include all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, and table salt.
- I’ve used sliced almonds as Pat’s recipe suggests, but pecans or walnuts would be great too, depending on what you like best.
- The wet topping ingredients are melted butter, salted or unsalted, and an egg. You can use margarine if that’s what you have, though I prefer butter for all my desserts.
Helpful kitchen tools:
- 13×9 baking dish
- Cutting board
- Chef’s knife
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring spoons and measuring cups
- Wooden spoon
- Cooling rack
- Ice cream scoop
How to make this delicious blueberry strawberry rhubarb crumble!
Now please, try really hard to keep the drool inside your mouth as you look through these pictures.
- Start by preheating your oven to 375ยบ F. Grease up the bottom and sides of a 13×9 baking pan.
- Prep the fruit by chopping the rhubarb into 1-inch pieces and slicing the strawberries.
- In a large bowl, stir together rhubarb, strawberries, and blueberries.
- Add in the sugar, cornstarch and balsamic vinegar. Stir the mixture well, turning the fruit to make sure you get to the bottom of the bowl. Stir until all the fruit has a beautiful sugary coating.
- Place the sugared fruit mixture into your prepared pan and set aside while you make the topping.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt and almonds. Stir in the egg until the topping is nice and crumbly. Toss with your fingers to make sure it’s completely combined.
- Crumble the topping over the sugared fruit, then drizzle all over with butter.
- Place pan in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes. The topping should be golden brown and the fruit mixture will be vibrant and bubbly.
- Remove the pan to a cooling rack and cool to slightly warm. Serve warm topped with a big, chilly scoop of vanilla ice cream.
If you’ve been looking for a rhubarb recipe to try, this is it. You’ll be thanking Pat for it. Head over to my Facebook group and join and be sure to let her know if you tried it!
More cobblers and crisps for you to try
I have several of these fruity creations already, so adding a rhubarb recipe to the mix was a bonus. Let me know if you try any of these!
- Crockpot Apple Cobbler – this is my most popular cobbler recipe. It’s made with a cake mix and your house will smell amazing.
- 3 Ingredient Peach Cobbler – another cake mix hack, this one can also be called a dump cake.
- Pumpkin Cobbler – For fall, y’all! Don’t miss this one when the weather starts to cool off.
Prize Winning Rhubarb Cobbler
Ingredients
- 2 cups rhubarb cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups fresh strawberries sliced
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ยบ Grease a 13x9 baking pan with butter or cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine rhubarb, strawberries, and blueberries.
- Add sugar, cornstarch and balsamic vinegar. Toss and stir until well coated.
- Place sugared fruit mixture into prepared pan and set aside.
Make the Topping
- Mix together flour, sugar, salt and sliced almonds. Stir in egg until crumbly. Toss with your fingers to make sure it's completely combined.
- Crumble over top of sugared fruit in pan. Drizzle with melted butter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and mixture is bubbly.
- Cool until slightly warm. Serve warm topped with vanilla ice cream.
Nutrition
Amanda Formaro
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Pat Harmon says
Thanks for the recognition, Amanda. I don’t often repeat a lot of my prize-winning recipes but this one I usually make every spring….even if it is a smaller version just for myself since I am alone now.
Amanda Formaro says
Well we absolutely loved it here, thanks Pat!!
Natalie says
Looks so delicious and perfect for the summer!