Rhubarb muffins on a Sunday afternoon

Walking around the local grocery store I came across some rhubarb.
I am ashamed to admit that I have never used rhubarb before today. Growing up in South Afica where there is an abundance of exotic fruit, rhubarb just never featured.
So, standing in the Albert Heijn, I decided to buy rhubarb and use it for the very first time.

Needless to say, I spent quite a bit of time browsing the Internet looking for recipe ideas.
It was hard deciding what to make but eventually I decided upon muffins.
I found a Jamie Oliver recipe and modified it to work with what I had in the house.

Here is a link to the original recipe: Rhubarb and Ginger Muffins

Here is my version... slightly tweaked.

Ingredients:
• 350g whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 325g dark brown sugar
• teaspoon lemon juice
• 250ml long life milk
• zest of 1 orange
• 1 piece of stem ginger, finely grated
• 1 large egg,
• 100g butter plus 1 tablespoon extra, melted
• 300g rhubarb, finely chopped

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190ºC and line a muffin tray with muffin cases.

In a small pan, heat up the rhubarb with a little bit of boiling water and some sugar. Only for a minute or two. Drain excess water and let it cool down.

In a large mixing bowl place the flour, baking powder, salt and 225g of the brown sugar. Mix, then make a well in the centre.

Add the lemon juice into the milk and set aside for a couple of minutes. Place the orange zest, half the stem ginger, the egg, 100g of melted butter and the milk mixture into the bowl and beat thoroughly. Fold in the chopped rhubarb. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, filling each one to the top.

In a small bowl place the remaining 100g of brown sugar, the extra tablespoon of melted butter and the rest of the stem ginger. Mix until it looks like a crumble topping, then sprinkle over the muffins. (I didnt quite manage to make it into a crumble topping... But it melted just fine on top)

Bake for 25 minutes so the sugar turns golden and crispy and the muffins are cooked through. Serve warm with custard or crème fraîche for a lovely pudding.

The batter yielded 18 medium sized muffins. They were delicious.