Rhubarb & strawberry crumble sundae

It was the savoury dishes that initially attracted me to Henry Dimbleby and Jane Baxter’s excellent Leon: Fast Vegetarian but this is a cracking dessert with in-season rhubarb.

Jane and Henry write: "So easy. So good. This is basically an assembly job, with just a little cooking at the beginning"

SERVES 4

PREPARATION TIME: 20 MINUTES • COOKING TIME: 20 MINUTES

150ml double cream, whipped

4 scoops of vanilla ice cream

4 tablespoons thick custard

FOR THE CRUMBLE

50g plain flour

30g cold butter, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons caster sugar

50g amaretti biscuits, crushed

FOR THE RHUBARB COMPOTE

150g strawberries, quartered

1 x Rhubarb & Orange Compote recipe (see below)

FOR THE SAUCE

100g strawberries

1 tablespoon caster sugar

a drop of vanilla extract

juice of 1 orange

1. Heat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3.
To make the crumble topping, put the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and crushed amaretti. Spread on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

2. Stir the quartered strawberries into the rhubarb compote.

3. Blend all the sauce ingredients to a purée in a blender, then pass the purée through a sieve.

4. To assemble, divide half the compote between four sundae glasses and top with the cream. Next add the strawberry sauce and ice cream, followed by the rest of the compote and the custard.

5. Top with the crumble mix, then serve.

VARIATIONS

This sundae can be made with all sorts of fruit combinations. All you need is a fruit compote and/or sauce, custard, ice cream, or whipped cream and something for texture such as crumble or nuts. Serious adult versions could have booze in, too. Try the following combos:

• Banana with toffee and chocolate.

• Raspberry, peach and flaked almonds.

• Pear with caramelized pecans and butterscotch or chocolate sauce.

Rhubarb & Orange Compote

SERVES 4

PREPARATION TIME: 5 MINUTES • COOKING TIME: 10 MINUTES

200g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces

125g caster sugar

1 tablespoon grenadine

50ml water

juice and grated zest of 2 oranges

Put the rhubarb, sugar, grenadine, water, orange juice and zest into a pan. Cook gently over a medium heat for 10 minutes, or until the rhubarb is soft.

What to drink: A tricky one. This dessert is already quite orangey so I'm not sure I'd go for the obvious choice of an orange muscat. (The orange in the pudding will strip out the orange in the wine). Try a late harvest sauvignon blanc or a young fragrant moscatel.

Recipe from Leon: Fast Vegetarian by Jane Baxter & Henry Dimbleby, £25, Published in March 2014 www.octopusbooks.co.uk

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