Gluten free strawberry and rhubarb crumble with lactose free vanilla ice cream
Gluten free, lactose free, nut free, FODMAP friendly
Ingredients
For the ice cream:
- 300 ml lactose free full cream
- 300 ml lactose free full cream milk
- 165 g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
- 6 extra large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
For the fruit:
- 1-2 kg fruit Half rhubarb and half strawberries, or the fruits of your choosing (see notes)
- 55 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice or water
- 1 tablespoon gluten free cornflour
For the crumble:
- 160 g (1 cup) white rice flour (you can also use sorghum flour or teff flour)
- 100 g caster or light brown sugar see notes
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 125 g butter room temperature
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup (60-120ml) lactose free full cream milk (see notes)
Instructions
To make the ice cream:
- Measure the cream, milk and sugar into a medium sized heavy bottomed saucepan. Crack the egg yolks into a clean, dry mixing bowl.
- Heat the cream mixture over a low-medium heat until hot but not scalding. Take it off the heat and slowly pour about half the warm cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. This is to slowly heat the eggs without scrambling them, so take your time.
- Place the saucepan back on the heat and repeat the process: slowly pour the egg yolk mixture back into the milk, whisking constantly. Continue whisking and cooking just until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. It will still be relatively thin. Don’t push it or you’ll end up with expensive scrambled eggs (been there, done that).
- Transfer the mixture to a clean steel cake tin or vessel that will fit in your freezer. I used a USA pan 21.5cm x 11.4cm x 6.9cm cake loaf pan, but you could also use heat proof Tupperware or an old, clean ice cream container.
- Drizzle over 2 teaspoons Queen Vanilla Bean paste and stir into the mixture. Transfer to the freezer to set (ideally overnight).
To prepare the fruit:
- Preheat the oven to 180C/360F. Wash, trim, de-hull and chop the fruit into bite size pieces. You can mix in the pan to save dishes, but I prefer to use a large mixing bowl. Add the sugar, lemon juice and cornflour and toss gently to combine and coat.
- If you like a juicy fruit crumble, pour your fruit mixture into a 28cm/1.6L baking dish (I use a Le Creuset enamel dish) and cook for 30 minutes until juicy and soft. If you prefer firm fruit in a crumble, proceed to the next step without cooking your fruit first.
To make the crumble:
- Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add the cubed butter and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles a course meal.
- Add the milk and stir to combine.
- Use your hands to spread the crumble mixture evenly atop the fruit. Place the dish on a baking tray to catch any fruity spillage, then bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden and the fruit is cooked (only pertinent if you chose not to pre-cook it).
- Allow the ice cream to sit for 5-10 minutes before scooping. Ideal served warm with a big scoop of melty vanilla ice cream on top.
- Crumble leftovers keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Leftovers ice cream can be covered and stored for as long as you have the self-control not to eat it all.
Notes
Caster sugar spreads more than light brown sugar. Use caster sugar if you like a more spready crumble topping, or light brown sugar if you prefer little nuggets of topping.
The same goes for milk: add more for a spready topping and less for little nuggets of topping.
You could add some slivered almonds, hemp seeds, quinoa flakes or really anything you like to spruce up the texture of the crumble.
I have tried sorghum flour and teff flour as replacements for the white rice flour, both to success. I daresay brown rice flour would also work, maybe even buckwheat (although it will have that classic buckwheat taste that some may not enjoy)
If you prefer a higher fruit ratio when compared to crumble, use 2kg fruit. If you prefer more crumble and less fruit, use 1kg. Both quantities will fit in a 28cm/1.6L baking dish.
FODMAP UPDATE
Monash have recently introduced a threshold for strawberries, which is !rude! They used to be 'eat according to appetite' whereas now a FODMAP friendly serving is 65g. If you have previously eaten large quantities strawberries with no issues, then you don't need to change anything. If they have given you issues, I recommend using 500g of strawberries and 500g of rhubarb in this crumble. Because rhubarb is considered FODMAP free, you could also use 1.5kg rhubarb and 500g strawberries, if you'd like a higher fruit content option. Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!