Rhubarb Cherry Hibiscus Crumble

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Summary: What a uniquely flavored, beautiful, delicious dessert! I got the idea of mixing rhubarb and hibiscus from a Kim Boyce recipe in Good to the Grain. 
**This recipe was chosen for a Wildcard Win on Food52.

Yield: one 8" x 8" dish; 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups chopped rhubarb (~3/4" cubes), divided
  • 20 Bing cherries, pitted, halved
  • 1 cup + ¼ cup packed brown sugar, divided
  • 2-3 tablespoons hibiscus tea (I use The Republic of Tea Natural Hibiscus loose leaf herbal; you can also use 8 hibiscus flowers)
  • ½ cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup rolled oats (not quick- or instant)
  • ½ cup sliced almonds
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
  • 6 tablespoons butter, set out on the counter when you start making this dessert- you want it to be cool but pliable

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit, and get out an 8" square glass baking dish.

Make the fruit filling: In a medium, non-reactive, heavy-bottomed saucepan set over medium-low heat, put 4 cups of the chopped rhubarb, the cherries, 1 packed cup of brown sugar and the hibiscus. Stir to combine everything, cover, and cook until the rhubarb releases its liquid and starts to break down, about 10-12 minutes.

Uncover the pot, add the remaining 2 cups of chopped rhubarb, stir to combine, and remove from heat. Set aside.

Make the topping: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat and all-purpose flours, the oats, remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar, almonds, cinnamon and salt.

With your fingers or a pastry cutter, blend in the butter until you have a crumbly mixture in which the butter is as uniformly distributed as possible.

Pour the fruit filling into your baking dish and then pour the crumble topping evenly over the top. Place the dish into the oven and bake for 22 minutes. (I turned the heat up to 425 after 20 minutes to give it an extra boost of heat at the end). Some of the crumble topping will sink into the fruit compote. Yum!

Serve with vanilla ice cream or with a lightly sweetened whipped cream with a little almond extract blended in (I used about 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract in mine).