Rhubarb Crunch

It is an unfortunate quirk of nature that the peak seasons for rhubarb and raspberries or strawberries are not synchronized, but modern-day freezer technological has completely overcome this problem. Stock up and freeze rhubarb early in the spring, and then wait for the strawberries and raspberries to arrive. Strawberries are perfect for this recipe, but raspberries impart a darker color to the finished dish and mulberries turn the dish a delightful purple.

Rhubarb has a very delicate flavor that can easily be masked by the strong molasses flavor of dark sugars. The truth is that for most of my life, I used flavor-neutral white sugar to sweeten the filling, but in the past few years I have found that maple sugar does not overpower the taste of rhubarb either.

8 cups chopped rhubarb, fresh or frozen

 or 6 cups rhubarb, fresh or frozen and 2 cups raspberries, strawberries, or mulberries

1 cup maple sugar

1-2 Tbsp. arrowroot powder

Topping:

1 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 1/2 cups spelt

1 1/2 cups maple sugar

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup butter, melted

Place all the fruit in a large bowl. Mix the maple sugar and arrowroot powder well and pour over the fruit. Mix well to coat each piece of fruit. Pour into a greased or butter 9x13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

Combine the oatmeal, spelt, maple sugar and baking powder; stir well. Pour over the melted butter and mix well. Crumble over the fruit. Bake at 350°F for 60 minutes or until the fruit is soft and bubbling. (If you have used frozen fruit, it could take up to 90 minutes.) Serve warm or cool.