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Stir the bowlful of ingredients until the rhubarb pieces appear fairly evenly coated with the sugary coating. (Confession: even though there's a stirring spoon in the photo below, about 10 seconds into the stirring, I dug in with my free hand and stirred, spoon and bare hand working together. Took a lot less time.) Set this mixture aside while you make the topping.
Is there anybody out there that doesn't think that brown sugar in a zip-able plastic bag is a major improvement over those cardboard boxes? Invariably sugar packed the old way turns into a solid brick, requiring much massaging and swear words before it can be broken down to be measured. (And yes, I recycle the cleaned-out empty plastic bags.)
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Anyhow, the topping is made from flour, light brown sugar, salt, and butter, cut into little pieces:
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Sprinkle the flour-brown sugar-butter mixture over the top:
After it's baked, the rhubarb should be tender and the topping golden, maybe with a bit of browning at the edges of the dish:
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Dishing it up, you realize your concoction looks like...glop. And that's being polite. Don't lose heart now! This is not a pretty dessert, but it's an incredibly yummy one:
2 lbs. rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 6 cups)
1-1/4 C. granulated sugar
1-1/4 C. flour, separated
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 C. packed light brown sugar [That means press it down into the measuring cup. Brown sugar is always measured in this way.]
1 stick (1/2 C.) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 tsp. salt
Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional) [or try whipped cream or heavy cream]
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. To make filling, put rhubarb, granulated sugar, 1/4 C. flour, and vanilla into a 9"x13" baking dish and toss well to combine; set aside. [Since I was splitting the recipe between two smaller casserole dishes, I tossed the filling in a bowl, then poured it into the two dishes.]
2. To make crumble topping, put remaining 1 C. flour, light brown sugar, butter, and salt into large bowl and toss well. Using your fingertips [or a pastry blender], rub butter into dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal. [At this point the original recipe calls for squeezing the topping together in small handsful, then scattering them across the top of the rhubarb. I say nuts to that! Just dump the topping over the rhubarb; et voila! you're finished.]
3. Bake until rhubarb is very tender and bubbly and crumble topping is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream if desired; spoon any leftover bowls and eat cold for breakfast. [Hah! mine will not see the far side of midnight! I'm already planning my pre-bedtime raid on the leftovers!]
Makes 8 servings. [Or, the way things go around here, 6 genteel servings and, later on, one pig-out on the remainders!]
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