Rhubarb, strawberry and pink peppercorn crumble with chamomile ice-cream

Name: Rhubarb, strawberry and pink peppercorn crumble with chamomile ice-cream
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: Serves 8
Ingredients: 750 gm rhubarb, diced; 90 gm honey; 60 gm brown sugar; Juice and finely grated rind of 3 lemons; 750 gm strawberries (about 3 punnets), hulled and halved; 375 gm caster sugar; 3 tbsp pink peppercorns, crushed; 500 ml (2 cups) milk; 200 ml pouring cream; 20 gm (1 cup) loose-leaf chamomile tea; 6 egg yolks; 175 gm caster sugar; 150 gm softened butter; 150 gm (1 cup) plain flour; 150 gm almond meal; 150 gm (1/3 cup) brown sugar; 75 gm rolled oats

Recipe for rhubarb, strawberry and pink peppercorn crumble with chamomile ice-cream by Sean McConnell from Monster, Canberra.

Aug 16, 2015 2:00pm

By Sean McConnell

Serves 8
40 mins preparation
1 hr cooking plus chilling, freezing

Rhubarb, strawberry and pink peppercorn crumble with chamomile ice-cream

"This is pretty much your mum's old-fashioned crumble," says McConnell, "but we've added pink peppercorns to give it a delicate and floral heat."

Ingredients

750 gm rhubarb, diced
90 gm honey
60 gm brown sugar
Juice and finely grated rind of 3 lemons
750 gm strawberries (about 3 punnets), hulled and halved
375 gm caster sugar
3 tbsp pink peppercorns, crushed

Chamomile ice-cream

500 ml (2 cups) milk
200 ml pouring cream
20 gm (1 cup) loose-leaf chamomile tea
6 egg yolks
175 gm caster sugar

Crumble

150 gm softened butter
150 gm (1 cup) plain flour
150 gm almond meal
150 gm (1/3 cup) brown sugar
75 gm rolled oats

Method

Main

1
For chamomile ice-cream, bring milk, cream and chamomile tea to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and stand to infuse (1 hour). Whisk yolks and sugar in a bowl until pale (4-5 minutes), strain milk mixture over, pressing on solids, and whisk to combine. Return to a clean pan and stir over very low heat until mixture thickly coats the back of a spoon or reaches 87C on a thermometer (5-6 minutes) Transfer to a bowl, whisk occasionally until cool, then chill. Churn in an ice-cream machine and freeze. Makes about 1 litre.
2
Place rhubarb, honey, brown sugar and lemon juice and rind in a saucepan over medium heat, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender (8-10 minutes). In a separate pan, stir strawberries and sugar over medium heat until broken down (8-10 minutes), add to rhubarb with 1 tsp sea salt and set aside.
3
For crumble, beat butter and flour in an electric mixer to combine, then add almond meal, sugar and oats and mix to combine.
4
Preheat oven to 180C. Spoon rhubarb and strawberry compote into 8 shallow individual ovenproof dishes or a 1.2-litre baking dish, scatter with peppercorns, and top with crumble. Bake until golden and bubbling (15-20 minutes for individual, 25-30 minutes for large). Serve with chamomile ice-cream.