Rhubarb brings its late-winter brightness to this favourite pudding, while ripe, buttery pears soften the edges and add a gentle creaminess. Instead of the traditional rubbing-in method, the crumble is made by pouring warm browned butter straight into the dry ingredients, creating a pebbly topping with a deeper toasted flavour. Leave out the crushed fennel seed, if you prefer, but this small addition, bloomed briefly in the butter, gives the whole thing a subtle aromatic lift.

Rhubarb, pear and hazelnut crumble with browned butter

Prep 15 min
Cook 1 hr 15 min, plus cooling
Serves 6

80g caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 orange, plus 1 tbsp juice
1½ tbsp tapioca flour, or cornflour
500g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into roughly 2cm pieces
2 large, ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm pieces
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Pouring cream, vanilla ice-cream or thick yoghurt, to serve

For the crumble topping
130g unsalted butter, plus 10g extra, softened, for greasing
1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed (optional)
130g plain flour
80g light brown sugar
70g rolled oats
70g toasted blanched hazelnuts, roughly chopped
¼ tsp fine sea salt

Start by making the topping: put the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally until the butter has completely melted. Keep cooking until the butter smells nutty and turns golden; it will splutter and hiss at first, then quieten as the foam subsides. When dark brown specks form on the bottom of the pan, take the pan off the heat, stir in the crushed fennel seeds, if using, and leave to “bloom” for a couple of minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir the flour, brown sugar, oats, hazelnuts and salt to combine. Pour over the warm browned butter (including the brown sediments – they have great flavour) and stir until irregular clumps form; you want a mixture of both rubble and fine crumbs. Put the crumble mix in the fridge for now.

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4 and lightly grease an oval ovenproof dish (I used a 28cm x 16cm one) with the extra 10g softened butter.

For the filling, put the sugar and orange zest in a large bowl and rub firmly until it smells fragrant and the sugar is tinged orange. Stir in the tapioca flour, then add the rhubarb, pears, orange juice and vanilla. Toss gently to combine, then tip into the buttered baking dish. Scatter the crumble mix evenly on top, then bake for 45-50 minutes, until the fruit juices are bubbling up around the edges and the top is golden brown. Remove and leave to stand for at least 15 minutes, then serve with pouring cream, vanilla ice-cream or thick yoghurt.