Rhubarb and Cinnamon Muffins

I love rhubarb, as I have rambled before. I think it's just magical and I am fully convinced it must be really good for your health, possibly full of cures for all sorts of diseases. This is based on the idea that it's a pink vegetable that you eat in puddings. I have no scientific data to back this up.
I also love cinnamon, though I do believe that it is used too much in commercial bakery. Every fruited bun or cake that you buy in high street bakeries or supermarkets is loaded with cinnamon, almost to the detriment of any flavour of any other ingredients. In small amounts it's beauteous, rich fully rounded flavour is in harmony with fruit bakery. In large amounts it's like having your cake soaked in mouth wash.

Ingredients

300g rhubarb, chopped into 1cm dice
3 tbsp caster sugar
300g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
200ml semi-skimmed milk
100g butter, melted

For topping

3 tbsp light muscavado sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6

Mix the rhubarb and 3 tbsp of caster sugar together and place in a oven proof dish, add two tablespoons of water or orange juice and bake for about 10 minutes. This softens the rhubarb. Once it is cooled, spoon it in to a sieve over a dish to catch any drips, though you won't need the juice.

Mix the dry ingredients for the cake mixture in a bowl. In a jug, whisk together the milk, eggs and melted butter together, then add to the dry ingredients and stir together, but don't be too thorough. Don't forget, a lumpy mixture makes better muffins, an over stirred mix can make the muffins become tough. Tumble in the cooled and drained rhubarb pieces, stir in, then divide between 12 muffin cases in a 12 hole muffin pan. Mix together the topping ingredients, and scatter over each muffin.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until risen and cooked through. The sugar won't melt, but will leave a crunchy crust on the top of the muffin.

Eat warm with custard or ice cream.

Rhubarb Crumble

Rhubarb is actually a vegetable, and the best stuff is grown in an area called The Rhubarb Triangle, an area between Leeds, Wakefield and Bradford. This is called either forced rhubarb or Traditionally Grown Yorkshire Indoor Rhubarb, and is hopefully going to be a name that can be used only by growers using a particular method in a particular area. This means that it will prevent any old rhubarb from saying it's the good stuff, in the same way that not all sparkling white wine can be called Champagne, only the stuff from Champagne. And believe me the comparison between the forced rhubarb and Champagne is made by some chefs.
I was personally brought up eating rhubarb, and lots of it. I don't have any memories of over stewed stringy stuff, but I went to a school that didn't have hot lunches and I can see that that is where a lot of people's dislike of it grew up. My mother made all her own puddings (shop bought things were a total novelty to us) and our next door neighbour was a keen gardener. He grew his own outdoor rhubarb, and every year would end up with more than he and his wife could eat. This resulted in us getting some of the excess, often finding it had been chucked over the fence to us. It was glorious stuff.

Ingredients
750g rhubarb, in 1cm slices
75g caster sugar
2tbsp water
2tbsp orange juice
175g plain flour
90g butter, diced
50g light brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4

Put the rhubarb in an oven proof dish and sprinkle the caster sugar all over. I also tend to give the rhubarb a mix as well, the same as if you are tossing a salad, to distribute the sugar evenly. Add the water and orange juice.
Put the flour and butter in a large mixing bowl and rub together until you get bread crumbs. Add the light brown sugar to this and stir it around with a fork or a knife or a chopstick. Pretty much anything but a spoon, as it has an uncanny way of squodging together.
If you are cooking this straightaway, spread the breadcrumbs evenly over the fruit, but don't worry if a few bits stick through. If you are preparing this in advance, I wouldn't bring together the crumble and fruit elements until cooking is imminent, otherwise you get soggy crumble and that's just not cool.
Cook for 40 minutes, then leave to stand out of the oven for about 15 minutes. Serve with whatever you fancy really; double cream, vanilla ice cream, custard, they're all good. It's also delicious the next day (if you have any left!) with cold plain or Greek yoghurt. It's a bit like one of those frightfully expensive corner yoghurts, but more satisfying for being homemade and left over!