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No wonder Harry's pants were tight, this begs for second-helpings!

Check out the links to more of my Harry Potter-inspired recipes at the bottom of this post!

In the beginning of book number five of the Harry Potter series, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", Harry is spirited away from the home of his abusive aunt and uncle at Privet Drive by a group of Aurors to Grimmauld Place, the home of his godfather, Sirius Black, and headquarters for the newly re-formed Order of the Phoenix. After a short (and tense) visit with his friends, he is served a dinner, prepared by Molly Weasley, of stew, butterbeer and rhubarb crumble with custard.

"Three helpings of rhubarb crumble and custard later and the waistband on Harry's jeans was feeling uncomfortably tight (which was saying something, as the jeans had once been Dudley's)." 
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (chapter 5, page 87-hardbound edition).

When I first mentioned making rhubarb crumble to my husband, he looked utterly disgusted. His memories of rhubarb are obviously not fond ones. Somehow I got it into my head that he would feel different about the rhubarb crumble I made, especially after he spied it, golden and bubbly and just taken from the oven, and looked as if he couldn't wait to get his hands on it. I asked him if he wanted it with or without custard and he said, "without".

I dished him up a bit and held it out to him saying, "I only gave you a small amount since it's rhubarb and I know you aren't sure if you'll like it or not." The moment the word "rhubarb" escaped my lips he recoiled and stared into the bowl with a horrified look on his face. I looked into the bowl expecting to see a bug and said, "Huh? You said you wanted it without custard." He then said, his voice much higher than usual, "I don't eat rhubarb! I thought it was cherry!" I told him he was being silly, that rhubarb crumble was for the British like apple pie is for Americans. "Oh, that explains a lot", he quipped. I rolled my eyes and offered it to the 3 year-old. He had been listening to the conversation, and so, wrinkled his nose and said, "No. It's disgusting." I gave my husband a look and the 6 year-old trotted in to the kitchen. I offered it to her, she loved it and asked for more. The 3 year-old, freshly intrigued, asked for some and also liked it. I dished out more, several bowls with custard, and several without, and between all the kids and I, it was thoroughly devoured.

Rhubarb Crumble and Vanilla Custard at Grimmauld Place

Rhubarb Crumble

10 stalks of rhubarb, about 6 inches long each, cut into 1/2" pieces
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup water
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour

Combine rhubarb, sugar, cinnamon and water in a heavy saucepan and cook over a medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until sugar is dissolved and rhubarb begins to soften. Meanwhile, rub together butter, brown sugar and flour until crumbs form. Pour rhubarb into a lightly greased 9x9 pan and top with crumble. Bake in a 350 degree F oven until crumble is browned and edges are bubbly, about 30 minutes. Top with vanilla custard, if desired.
Makes 4-6 servings

Vanilla Custard

2 whole eggs
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream or half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat eggs and sugar together until pale and lemon yellow with no streaks. Bring cream just to a boil in a heavy saucepan. Remove from heat and temper the eggs with the cream-adding a quarter cup at a time-1/2 cup total- and whisking quickly so the eggs do not cook. Put the cream back on the stove over a low flame and add the egg/cream mixture in a thin stream, whisking the entire time, until the sauce forms and is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat as soon as it thickens and add the vanilla, mixing well to combine. Serve immediately over the crumble.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

Don't miss the recipes I've already posted for:

• My Hogwarts-Inspired Pumpkin Juice
• Pumpkin Pasties Straight From the Hogwarts Express (a.k.a. My Oven)
  
• Onion Soup Inspired by Molly Weasley
• Almost Harry Potter Butterbeer