These Rhubarb and Custard Crumble Muffins are packed full of seasonal rhubarb, custard in the batter and finished off with an oaty streusel topping.
Hiya everyone, I hope you had a good weekend. We went car shopping, which was a mixed bag! One dealership was really good and the other one… terrible. Well, the bloke we had was awful. So condescending, rude, arrogant. Trying to tell us we don’t need a 4×4 and trying to get us to buy what he wanted! I feel like we should be able to go into a dealership and buy the car we want?
His whole demeanour from the start was just dismissive and rude. He decided that we should get a 1.5 litre engine even though it wasn’t what we wanted. Then he knew nothing about the cars, the range, the models, the colours, so couldn’t answer any questions. He didn’t like the fact that we wanted the 2 litre engine and said really sarcastically “the 1.5L is globally our best selling engine and fine for MOST people”. We were like, great, good for most people, it’s still not what we want.
The whole thing just felt awkward. He was supposedly searching both their franchise’s stock and VW UK stock for the spec and engine. However, my husband and I both think he was mindlessly tapping a few keys as nothing was happening on his screen that I could half see.
The reason we want a 4×4 is because it’s higher up and easier for me to get into and out of. Obviously I wasn’t about to share my medical history with this idiot. But we shouldn’t have to justify why we want to give you money for a certain car.
This is a longer term car for us, so we’re trying to future proof it with my varying degrees of ability and the fact I may well get progressively worse. I’m working as hard as I can with physio to keep my mobility. However, I still have bad days now where it would be much easier to get into a higher car. Then I have good days where getting into a lower car isn’t the worst. We’re going to be getting rid of hubby’s car for the new one. Another reason is he has a diesel and used to drive loads for work. Since he got his new job where he is based from home 95% of the time, he doesn’t do the miles, so we don’t need a diesel anymore.
I switched to an automatic car 3 years ago and it was revolutionary. I was at the point where I had so much sciatica and back pain I couldn’t drive a manual anymore. My husband was unsure about auto gearboxes as he remembered years ago when they were slow and hesitant. I have a dual clutch and it’s smooth as silk. VW have their DSG and even he now admits it’s so nice having an auto in traffic and multi storey car parks. So we’re going to get an auto Tiguan as well.
At the moment I don’t drive his car as I can’t. So we have to always mess about switching cars around. When we have two autos we’ll both be able to just drive whichever one is on the end of the drive which will be lovely!
Anyway, we found a much nicer salesman at the next couple of dealers. It seems we have to do a factory order as there’s just no cars in our spec/engine available. What with the chip shortage as well, we’ll be looking at Christmas for delivery time. Not amazing, but what can you do?
LET’S TALK ABOUT HOW TO MAKE THESE RHUBARB AND CUSTARD CRUMBLE MUFFINS…
Rhubarb and custard is such a classic flavour combination. They both bring the best out in each other. In Aldi the other day rhubarb was part of their super 6, so a pack was about 60p!
I never used to like rhubarb that much,. Once I learned how to prepare it correctly I fell in love with it! It just gives this amazing tart, but sweet flavour that marries so well with sweet custard.
I used custard in the batter as well as drizzling it across the top to really ramp up that flavour. The texture of these muffins is incredible. Soft, tender, full of soft chunks of rhubarb and sweet custard.
To finish everything off I added an oarty crumble topping. The juxtaposition of that slight crunch with the soft muffin? Pure bliss!!!
You only need a couple of bowls and a wooden spoon to make this recipe. There’s no beating or whisking required.
I started by making the crumble topping. I placed oats, flour, sugar, vanilla and butter into a small bowl and rubbed it together until there were some larger lumps and some smaller lumps.
After leaving the crumble topping to one side, it was time to dice the rhubarb. I used 1 1/2 cups of diced rhubarb which is about 425g. As long as you keep the chunks small, it will cook and become tender in the 20 minutes it takes to bake the muffins.
Mix melted butter, sugar, vanilla and 2 eggs together. Next add in flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, rhubarb and custard. Mix everything together, divide it between muffin liners, crumble the oat mixture on top and bake until risen, golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Leave them to cool, drizzle more custard on top if you want, then dig in. Easy, quick and delicious!
Let me know how you like these Rhubarb and Custard Crumble Muffins and check out more muffin recipes below!
- Maple Banana Muffins
- Raspberry Dark Chocolate Muffins
- Mixed Berry Streusel Muffins
- Lime and Yoghurt Muffins
Rhubarb and Custard Crumble Muffins
Ingredients
- FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING:
- 1/2 stick (56g) cold unsalted butter, cubed. I used vegan butter
- 1 cup (80g) rolled oats
- 1/4 cup (35g) plain/all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp light brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- FOR THE RHUBARB AND CUSTARD MUFFINS:
- 1 stick (113g) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled. (I used vegan butter)
- 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) caster sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (425g) fresh rhubarb, cut each end of, halve the stalks and then dice into small chunks
- 2 1/2 cups (350g) plain/all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (120ml) fresh custard, I used Oatly dairy free (plus extra for garnish, optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line a 12 hole muffin tin with liners.
- Make the crumble topping first: Place the butter, oats, flour, sugar and vanilla into a small bowl and rub between your fingers until everything is combined and you have some smaller and some larger lumps. Leave the bowl to one side.
- Place the melted butter, light brown sugar, caster sugar, eggs and vanilla extract into a large bowl and mix until smooth and everything is combined.
- Add in the rhubarb, flour, baking soda, bicarbonate of soda, salt and custard and mix gently until well incorporated and there are no lumps of flour. Don't beat or whisk, just bring together as gently as possible to ensure the texture of your muffins is perfect.
- Divide your batter between your muffin liners, filling them about 3/4 of the way up. I placed 3tbsp of batter into each liner. Crumble some of the oat mixture onto the top of each muffin. You can add as much or as little as you want. I love crumble toppings, so I tend to almost cover each muffin. Of course as they rise the crumble topping will spread out.
- Place in the oven for 17-22 minutes, until risen, golden and an inserted skewer into the centre comes out clean. Mine took 22 minutes to bake.
- Leave to cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before digging in if you want a fresh, warm muffin. You can also leave them to cool in the pan completely and then store in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 5 days.
- Alternatively you can do what I did, which is to place kitchen paper under a wire rack, transfer the muffins and then drizzle more custard on the top. I would advise doing this just before serving because it's not a proper glaze that is going to set. It will probably be absorbed into the muffins and make the top mushy.
