Sweet crunchy oat & brown sugar topping over tart cooked rhubarb with a light lemony floral hint from lilac blossoms baked into the crisp. Sprinkle with more lilac flowers for a pretty presentation (if you like).
I remember as a little girl, I used to lie under the lilac tree, pick blossoms from the tree, put them on my tongue and breathe in the taste and scent of the lovely purple flowers. I didn’t eat them back then because I didn’t know whether they were edible or not. It certainly wasn’t anything people commonly talked about eating. So for many years, I haven’t really tried to do much with lilacs other than gaze at them and breathe in deeply their heady scent. I tried tasting one from my little lilac bush a couple years ago and the petals tasted sort of bitter to me, so I dismissed the idea until I bought this book called Cooking with Flowers that has a whole chapter dedicated to lilacs. In the book, she makes lilac sorbet (in several different colors!), lilac pavlova, lilac syrup, lilac cream filled donuts, lilac tapioca, lilac jam, and lilac cookies. So I thought I should try baking with lilacs.
To prep the lilac blossoms, wash them first, then pull the little flowers from the stem and pinch off the green part at the bottom of each blossom. Or to make it a bit faster, you can use a knife to cut several blossoms off at once, leaving the green bit on the stem.
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Lilac Rhubarb Crisp for Two
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 1 - 2 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 Tablespoon chia seeds or tapioca
- 1/4 cup lilac blossoms
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
For the topping:
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup quick-cooking oatmeal
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 cup cold butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the rhubarb, sugar, chia or tapioca, lilac blossoms and vanilla. Let rest for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine the brown sugar, oats, flour, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Mix well to make a crumbly mixture.
- Pour the rhubarb mixture into an oven safe bowl, then top with about 3/4 cup of the topping mixture. Save the rest of the topping in the fridge or freezer for future use.
- Bake at 350 for about 20 – 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown, the rhubarb is soft and the filling is hot and bubbly.
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: http://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/
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This recipe was shared at Weekend Potluck and From the Farm Bloghop.
