Rhubarb Crisp with Honey and Bitters

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Crisps are one of those desserts that require very little effort but deliver a lot of reward. No electric mixer, no food processor, no finicky pie crust, just a couple of bowls, your hands, and maybe a spoon. This one keeps the classic rhubarb crisp formula intact but makes it a little more interesting with the addition of Angostura bitters.

Most often used in cocktails, Angostura is something I always have on hand, and I love finding ways to work it into desserts. It is strong and concentrated, bringing in notes of warming spice, orange peel, and herbal bitterness. Here, it adds depth to a dessert that might otherwise lean mostly tart and sweet.

Baked fruit desserts are usually finished with ice cream, which is obviously delicious, but after eating the leftovers of this crisp basically straight from the fridge, I realized I might actually prefer it with thick, unsweetened Greek yogurt. Maybe it’s a sign of getting older, but sometimes I find vanilla ice cream a little too sweet! Either way, whatever you spoon on top, finish it with a few more dashes of bitters.

Standard crisp recipes typically call for 3 lbs of fruit, but I only had 1.5 lbs of rhubarb and wasn’t feeding a crowd, so this makes one smaller crisp that will happily feed 4.

A note on sweetness: Rhubarb varies in tartness, so start with 1/3 cup honey if you like things tart-sweet, or increase to 1/2 cup if you prefer a sweeter crisp.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs rhubarb, cut into 1-inch pieces, leaves removed

• Zest of 1 lemon and juice of 1/2 lemon

• 1/3 cup honey

• 8-10 dashes of Angostura bitters

• 1/2 cup butter, cold cut into cubes

• 1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant!)

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup flour

• Pinch of salt

• 1/2 cup chopped almonds

• Vanilla ice cream and additional bitters for serving (optional, but not really)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a large bowl, combine the chopped rhubarb, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, and bitters. Mix so everything is evenly coated.

3. In a separate bowl, add the butter, oats, brown sugar, flour, and a pinch of salt. Use your fingers or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture forms an evenly mixed crumble. Add the almonds and toss to distribute.

4. Transfer the rhubarb mixture to a shallow baking dish (mine had a 1.6 L capacity; I would not go bigger. This is about half the size of your typical-sized crumble). Sprinkle the crumble topping all over the top.

5. Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any bubbled-over filling and bake until the filling is bubbly and the topping is golden and crisp, about 40 minutes.

6. Let cool slightly before serving with scoops of vanilla ice cream topped with a few more dashes of bitters.

That’s all for now! See you next time At Isabelle’s.