Low Gluten
Breakfast
Moist Banana Chestnut LoafMini rhubarb & strawberry crumbles, a chilled French twist to the British classic with zingy fruit compote, fluffy white chocolate mousse and toasted oat crumble.
What’s more it’s the easiest make-ahead desserts – with the compote and crumble ideal for freezing too!
Easy Make-Ahead Individual Desserts
Love fruity desserts – especially rhubarb and strawberries in Spring? Then you have to make this. What’s more, make the fruit compote and crumble in advance – each can even be frozen. So you can whip up these delicious desserts at any time of year.
Just add some fluffy white chocolate mousse with rose and top with toasted oat crumble. It’s a healthy crumble individual dessert that’s perfect for making ahead for dinner parties.
What Can you do with a lot of rhubarb?
Some of us are lucky to have neighbours who grow tons of rhubarb plus I’ve been buying so much of it at our farmers’ market in fear of the season. I have so much rhubarb during the season that I’m often flashed funny looks from French locals, “Mais .. what are you going to do with all that rhubarb?” My quick answer is compote! I dollop it on cereal, on ice cream but the family adores compote in this dessert.
But not everyone has easy access to rhubarb, let alone enjoy these seasonal fruits all year round. So, it was time to update this recipe and make it more user-friendly.
What Other Fruit Goes With Rhubarb?
When I first published this recipe, I made it purely with rhubarb but now I’ve dared to add strawberries, as this is another fruit that goes so well with it.
What if I don’t have rhubarb, I hear you ask? I’ve tried the same recipe completely with strawberries – and it’s just as delicious. If you do make this recipe using just strawberries, add less sugar, as strawberries are naturally sweeter than rhubarb. As the ratio of rhubarb to sugar is 4:1, the ratio for strawberry compote is 5:1.
Rhubarb & Strawberry Compote Base
Compote is a healthy version of jam, as it only rhubarb compote (adding hibiscus/red fruit tea to pink it up and sometimes throwing in a few strawberries): dolloping it on yoghurt, maple oat breakfast granola and freezing it in large jam jars for winter rations when we’re needing a dose of healthy fruit compote . when the family is craving yet MORE RHUBARB!
Serve in verrine glasses
Unsweetened White Chocolate & Rose Mousse
Normally in Britain, we’d serve a rhubarb and strawberry crumble warm with hot, thick custard. This is my French twist to the classic comfort dessert. So instead, I’m serving the crumbles chilled and individually in glass dishes. The fruit compote is the base, topped with unsweetened white chocolate mousse and toasted crumble. Sometimes, compote just needs a bit of transformation into something special for dessert – and this is it.
How did I develop the recipe? Inspired by Michelin-starred French chef, Anne-Sophie Pic, I’ve enjoyed playing with her restructured tart of tarragon rhubarb compote and a whipped white chocolate mousse using a siphon – omitting the mousse’s sugar completely (I find white chocolate is sweet enough) and added rose or orange blossom water to it, after my own chocolate mousse version.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a siphon: just follow my recipe for White Chocolate, Rose and Orange Blossom Mousse.
rose and white chocolate mousse
As I love a good Scottish crumble with oats, this is toasted in the oven and just crumbled directly into the glass. And if you have some macarons or macaron shells handy in the freezer, then it’s a dessert that can easily be made in advance and assembled at the last minute for an irresistible rhubarb dessert at any time of year!
Chilled Rhubarb and Strawberry Crumbles with White Chocolate Mousse
Servings : 6 people
Description
A refreshing twist to rhubarb crumble - individual rhubarb and strawberry crumbles served with the lightest white chocolate mousse with rose and topped with crunchy, toasted oat crumble for an easy fruity dessert recipe that can be be prepared in advance. Freeze the compote base and make this at any time of year.
Ingredients
Rhubarb & Strawberry Compote
- 200 g (7oz) Rhubarb (about 1-2 sticks), leaves removed, sliced
- 200 g (7oz) Strawberries hulled and chopped
- 50 g (2oz) Sugar
- 1 tbsp Rose Syrup (optional)
Toasted Oat Crumble
- 100 g (4oz) Medium porridge oats
- 100 g (4oz) Plain (all-purpose) flour
- 100 g (4oz) Butter unsalted
- 50 g (2oz) Light brown sugar
- 1 tsp salt (fleur de sel)
White Chocolate & Rose Mousse
- 100 g (4oz) White chocolate
- 100 g (4oz) Full cream milk
- 100 g (4oz) Whipping cream (Crème fleurette) (30% fat)
- 1/2 tsp rose water
Instructions
- Make the white chocolate mousse: over a pan of simmering water, place a bowl with the white chocolate broken into bits. As soon as it looks like it’s melting, take off the heat and whisk gently, adding the milk then the cream and add the orange blossom. Pour into the siphon, add the gas canister (according to manufacturer’s instructions) and place in the fridge for at least an hour. If you don’t have a siphon, then follow my recipe for white chocolate mousse with orange blossom.
- Make the oat crumble: Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6/180°C fan. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and rub them together until they resemble breadcrumbs. Spread an even layer of the crumble mix on a baking sheet lined with baking paper (or a silicon mat) and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool.
- To assemble: spoon a third of each serving glass with the rhubarb & strawberry compote, spoon on the airy white chocolate mousse and top with the toasted crumble.
Notes
If you don't have a Siphon, follow my white chocolate mousse with rose and orange blossom recipe. Serve with rose macarons from my Mad About Macarons book or the almond tuiles from Teatime in Paris. Jill Colonna MadAboutMacarons.com
Reviews (11)
We love this recipe so much that we always want a little more – and I’m not even a great fan of rhubarb! The combination is divine – and not too sweet either.
Do I even need to comment on these little beauties? You KNOW I would be all over them in a flash! I couldn’t eat just one, though! Our rhubarb is all done for the year, so I have to rely on good old Cawston Press drinks for my rhubarb fix until next year. Boo hoo!! 🙁
I realise I was a bit late off the mark in getting this online as it was towards the end of the season. But save this one for your next rhubarb fix, my friend x
Such cruel fate, to discover gorgeous new rhubarb recipes in a year when I’m deprived of rhubarb! We had an abundant stock at our allotment, but we’ve given it up this year since looking after the garden in Edinburgh and the garden on Speyside is quite enough. It’s at the top of my list for replanting when we move to Speyside permanently. Lacking the wonderfulness of French markets, I refuse to buy it in a supermarket here – a very Scottish voice always rings in my ear, “You’re charging THAT much money for THAT quality and quantity???” So I’ll hoard these recipes until the new rhubarb era.
I totally hear you on the supermarket quality of rhubarb. Here in France, we couldn’t even find it that the supermarket. Our season finished as late as last week, though, even if the last lot came from Germany! Vive the next season and making this recipe, Linda. Thanks for popping in.
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