A delicious and warming rhubarb and ginger crumble with an easy flapjack style crumble topping.
Seasonal rhubarb, apples, and stem ginger combine gloriously in this comforting fruity pudding.

We're big crumble fans in this house, with my portion always served with custard (or yogurt if I'm eating leftovers for breakfast!). The kids prefer theirs with clotted cream or honeycomb ice cream.
However you like to serve your crumble, whether it be hot, warm, cold, with custard, cream, ice cream (or yogurt!), this tasty rhubarb and ginger crumble is a must make during rhubarb season.
I use my trusty stewed rhubarb recipe (which can be made with forced rhubarb or garden rhubarb) as the base for this crumble, which is flavoured with ground ginger and zingy lime juice. I then add sliced granny smith apples and stem ginger in syrup, which gives the dish a wonderful warmth.
The topping is an easy flapjack style crumble topping which means there is no need to get your hands messy rubbing in the butter and flour. It's quick, simple, and my go-to topping for almost every crumble I make. It also tastes like buttery sweet flapjack, which is a very good thing!
👩🍳 Have you seen my apple and blueberry crumble recipe?
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✔️ Why should you try it?
- A delicious recipe for seasonal rhubarb.
- A warming and comforting pudding.
- Can be frozen.
- Uses an easy flapjack style crumble topping.
🥘 Ingredients

- Stewed Rhubarb - make a batch of my stewed rhubarb and store it in the fridge for up to three days. Alternatively, the stewed rhubarb can be frozen. Defrost thoroughly before using it in this recipe.
- Apples - 2 tart apples, peeled, and thinly sliced. I used granny smiths but Bramleys, when in season, would be delicious.
- Stem Ginger - 1 ball of stem ginger in syrup adds a lovely warmth and gentle heat to the crumble. The stem ginger must be chopped very finely. You might find it easier to grate it.
- Plain Flour - for the crumble topping.
- Oats - adds texture to the crumble, giving it that flapjack like quality.
- Sugar - light brown sugar gives the best caramel flavour to the crumble topping but you could substitute with caster sugar if you prefer.
- Butter - Unusually for crumble, the butter (unsalted) in this recipe is melted and poured into the flour, oats and sugar. No rubbing in required, just a quick stir of the spoon to create moreish golden crumble!
🔪 Instructions
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
One: Make the stewed rhubarb if you haven't already. You will need the full portion for this crumble.
Two: Preheat the oven to 180°c (160 fan/ Gas 4/ 350F).
Three: Place the stewed rhubarb, sliced apple and chopped stem ginger in a 2-litre pie dish.
Four: Put the flour, oats, and sugar in a mixing bowl and pour on the melted butter. Using a metal spoon, mix the butter into the dry ingredients until your crumble topping forms.
Five: Spoon the crumble over the fruit and bake for 45-50 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Six: Serve warm or cold with cream, custard or ice cream.

💭 Top tips
- Make the stewed rhubarb up to 3 days ahead of time. It will happily sit in the fridge until needed.
- Double the amount of crumble topping if you like your crumble layer REALLY thick.
- Forced rhubarb (available in early spring) or garden-grown rhubarb can both be used for this recipe. The only difference is the colour of the stems.
- Try leftover rhubarb crumble for breakfast with thick creamy yogurt!
🍴 Serving suggestions
Rhubarb crumble can be served straight from the oven (mind you don't burn yourself as the fruit will be very hot), warm, at room temperature or cold.
I LOVE custard with crumble but clotted cream, ice cream or double cream are other popular choices.
📖 Variations
- Add 200g of sliced strawberries in place of the apple to make a rhubarb and strawberry crumble.
- If you aren't so keen on ginger, replace the chopped stem ginger with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Add 50g of chopped walnuts to the crumble topping to add texture and crunch.
- Add a handful of raspberries to the rhubarb crumble to give it a fruity boost. Blueberries would work too.
- Make the crumble in 6 individual ramekins rather than one large pie dish.

🥡 Storage
Baked crumble can be stored in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in individual portions in the microwave, or just eat it cold from the fridge!
Crumble can also be frozen either unbaked or baked. If freezing unbaked, once you have sprinkled on the crumble topping, cover the dish with 2 layers of foil and freeze for up to 3 months. When you are ready to eat it, the crumble can be placed straight from the freezer into the oven, although you may have to increase your cooking time by 5-10 minutes.
❓ FAQS
Forced rhubarb is grown from the same plant as normal outdoor rhubarb, but in very different conditions. Forced rhubarb, being grown in darkened sheds away from natural light, makes the plant more colourful with pale pink stems, sweeter and (to some people) more tender than normal rhubarb.
The Rhubarb Triangle is a 9-square-mile (23 km2) area of West Yorkshire, England between Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell famous for producing early forced rhubarb. The farmers in the Rhubarb Triangle were awarded Protected Designation of Origin status (PDO) in February 2010. Food protected status accesses European funding to promote the product and legal backing against other products made outside the area trying to use the name.
No, rhubarb does not need to be peeled prior to cooking.
😋Related recipes
More fruity puddings to enjoy!
- Spiced Plum and Apple Crumble
- Gooseberry Crumble
- Frozen Berry Crumble
- Cinnamon Apple Crumble
- Blackberry Crumble
- Strawberry Crumble
- Apple and Mincemeat Crumble
- Easy Strawberry Cobbler
- Apple and Blackberry Crumble
🍽️ More family-friendly recipes
Tried this recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating in the comments!
Recipe
Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble
Ingredients
- 500 g Stewed Rhubarb
- 2 Apples peeled and sliced (I used Granny Smith)
- 1 Stem Ginger Ball finely chopped or grated
For the crumble topping
- 125 g Plain Flour
- 125 g Oats
- 150 g Light Brown Sugar
- 125 g Butter melted
Instructions
- If you haven't already done so, make the stewed rhubarb using the recipe link in the ingredients. This can be done up to 3 days ahead of time. You will need the full amount of stewed rhubarb for this recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 180°c (160 fan/ Gas 4/ 350F).
- Place the stewed rhubarb, sliced apple and chopped stem ginger in a 2-litre pie dish.
- Put the flour, oats, and sugar in a mixing bowl and pour on the melted butter. Using a metal spoon, mix the butter into the dry ingredients until your crumble topping forms.
- Spoon the crumble over the fruit and bake for 45-50 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Video
Notes
- Make the stewed rhubarb up to 3 days ahead of time. It will happily sit in the fridge until needed.
- Double the amount of crumble topping if you like your crumble layer REALLY thick.
- Forced rhubarb (available in early spring) or garden-grown rhubarb can both be used for this recipe. The only difference is the colour of the stems.
- Try leftover rhubarb crumble for breakfast with thick creamy yogurt!
- Add 200g of sliced strawberries in place of the apple to make a rhubarb and strawberry crumble.
- If you aren't so keen on ginger, replace the chopped stem ginger with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Add 50g of chopped walnuts to the crumble topping to add texture and crunch.
- Add a handful of raspberries to the rhubarb crumble to give it a fruity boost. Blueberries would work too.
- Make the crumble in 6 individual ramekins rather than one large pie dish.
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Claudia Lamascolo
Sounds delicious I hope I can find some of this root, we have never had anything like that before but I sure want to try this out! YUM!
Lauren
I've always just gone for strawberry and rhubarb - the ginger and rhubarb is a really interesting combination! Great recipe.
Jen
This is the perfect dessert! I love the tartness from the rhubarb. I served it alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream. So delicious!
Angela
My family loves crumble for dessert. Your rhubarb ginger crumble was so delicious that they want me to make it again. Yum!
Rachna
It's a delicious recipe. Thank you for sharing the detailed recipe. I will try it out soon.
Pam
The tanginess of the ginger sounds just delightful in this! I can't wait to try it.
Deirdre
I love rhubarb so much but it's really difficult to find here in Spain. I'd like to make this recipe though, could I substitute the rhubarb for the same amount of pears do you think, or would something else be better?
Beth Sachs
Pears would work really well with the ginger! I might try it myself!
veenaazmanov
Love the delicious combinations of ingredients in making this delicious dessert. Unique yet so easy and perfect. I have to try this out.
Michelle
I love rhubarb season -- this combination with ginger sounds incredible! I cannot wait to give it a try!
Jess
I love the flavor combo here. And the crumb topping is everything!