Rhubarb and apple crisp with cinnamon ice-cream

Rhubarb is a versatile vegetable that brings a spot of colour to the dark, cold months, adding a tang to puddings and this classic American dessert. Unlike cobblers with thick crusts, crisps are closer to English-style crumbles with a thinner crumb topping that can be made with flour, nuts, bread, cereal or biscuit crumbs.

Credit: Chris Chen

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Ace

Ingredients

• 500 g (about 3) Granny Smith apples, cored, cut into 1 cm-thick slices
• 400 g (about 6 stalks) rhubarb, trimmed, cut into 3 cm pieces
• 55 g (¼ cup firmly packed) brown sugar
• ½ orange, juiced, plus orange zest, to serve

Cinnamon ice-cream

• 750 ml (3 cups) thickened cream
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 6 egg yolks
• 220 g (1 cup) caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Crisp

• 60 g (¾ cup) rolled oats
• 105 g (¾ cup) plain flour
• 110 g (½ cup firmly packed) brown sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 80 g unsalted butter, melted
• 95 g (⅓ cup) thick Greek-style yoghurt

Infusing time 2 hours

Churning time 30 minutes

Freezing time overnight

You will need to make the ice-cream a day ahead.

Instructions

To make the ice-cream, place cream and cinnamon in a saucepan and bring almost to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes for cream to infuse. Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolks, sugar and ground cinnamon until pale and creamy. Remove cream from heat. Remove cinnamon quill and set aside.

Whisking constantly, gradually strain hot cream over yolk mixture, then whisk gently to combine. Transfer to a clean saucepan over low heat, add cinnamon quill and stir constantly with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes or until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon; don’t boil mixture. Remove pan from heat and cool to room temperature. Cover surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to infuse.

Discard cinnamon quill. Churn custard in an ice-cream machine until frozen. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 2 hours or until very firm. (If you don’t have an ice-cream machine, strain custard into a large, shallow tray, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours or until frozen at the edges. Transfer to a bowl and beat until smooth and soft. Return to the tray and freeze for a further hour. Repeat beating and freezing mixture until firm.) Freeze overnight.

Preheat oven to 190°C. To make the crisp, combine all ingredients in a bowl, mixing well to form a dough-like consistency. Place apples, rhubarb, sugar and orange juice in a large bowl, tossing to combine. Spoon mixture into a 2 litre baking dish. Crumble over crisp dough and bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden and fruit is bubbling. Scatter with orange zest and serve warm with cinnamon ice-cream.

Photography Chris Chen

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.