Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble....

....... made with the first rhubarb of the year from my garden!!

I'm not a keen gardener, but if I am going to put in some effort, I like some reward, and what could be more satisfying than growing some of your own fruit, vegetables and herbs? It's so good to see the first rhubarb leaves pushing up through the soil and uncurling, and it's amazing how fast they grow. I can't tell how much we will be able to harvest this year, but we didn't get the cold winter that rhubarb needs to be really fruitfull. However, after this we have gooseberries, strawberries and apples to look forward to.

And once you've picked the first rhubarb, there's little to beat using it in a simple crumble. I added a little ginger to this one, in the form of 3 lumps of preserved ginger, roughly chopped, and two tablespoons of syrup from the jar, mixed into the rhubarb, along with 2 tablespoons of Light at Heart brown 'sugar' - a lower calorie sugar substitute. I didn't weigh the rhubarb - I just picked enough to fill my baking dish to about 3/4 full. I guess there was around 500g - rhubarb is usually sold in 400g packs.

I also used Light at Heart in the crumble mix. I've tried it before in baking, and wasn't happy with it's performance in cakes, where volume is important, but it's ideal in this sort of baking, where just the sweetening power is important. Light at Heart is a mix of sugar and stevia, blended so that exactly half the usual amount will give the same amount of sweetness. Half the amount of sugar means half the calories, of course!

For the crumble mix, I used 100g each of butter, SR flour and rolled oats, and 50g of brown Light at Heart. The butter was roughly rubbed into the other ingredients, leaving quite a few lumpy bits. This was then sprinkled over the fruit, pressed down lightly and baked at 190C for 45 minutes. Eat while still quite warm, although you can reheat in a low oven. I reheat leftover portions of fruit crumble in the microwave, but it's nowhere near as good as one that is freshly baked!

I received free samples of Light at Heart from Tate and Lyle at the end of last year, but wouldn't have carried on using it if I wasn't  pleased with it's performance. The only thing I don't like is the price - it's more than four times the cost of sugar! I don't think I'm likely to carry on with it once the free samples are used up!