On Easter morning, we follow my childhood tradition of doing a search for the Easter basket. As a kid, I was made to believe that the Easter Bunny paw-delivered a special gift in the night: a big woven basket filled with chocolate rabbits, jellybeans, dyed Easter eggs and little marshmallow chicks. He didn’t place it in plain view for my brother and I to see first thing in the morning. No, the furry fellow left clues around the house that would direct us to our coveted baskets.

Nowadays, the first clue always starts out under Geoffrey’s pillow. On a narrow slip of paper is the information to find the next clue, and so on and so forth until he locates the basket.

Hence, “in the tumble dryer” leads to “under mommy and daddy’s bed”, which leads to “in the refrigerator” and, eventually (depending on the age, each year the hunt can go longer), it is revealed. It’s great fun for everyone involved.

For my first Easter in Ireland, I was kindly invited to dinner at the farm. I remember my magnificent mother-in-law Peggy had prepared a glorious roast dinner that we all feasted happily on while the sun shone through the windows and the birds chirped and sang outside.

I decided it would be kind to bring along a dessert to share. My recipe for rhuberry crumble wasn’t necessarily for Easter, but it was a spring staple in my mother’s kitchen. I was a bit nervous as it was the first time I’d made anything for my husband’s family since the previous Thanksgiving when my pumpkin pie was met with varying degrees of admiration.

After we finished our main course, the desserts were brought out, mine being part of a larger selection. Everyone chose a little bit of everything. Luckily, the crumble was received very well and was liked by everyone, including Richard’s grandmother who thought it was “beautiful.” This crumble has been specially requested several times for our Easter celebration over the years.

The original recipe calls for instant tapioca, which I have not been able to locate in our area, so I have replaced with semolina, which works very well, if not better than the tapioca. It lends itself to a creamier crumble, taking down the rhubarb tang ever so slightly.

Spring rhuberry crumble

Serves six

For the crumble topping

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

25g packed light-brown sugar

130g cream flour

50g ground almond

Pinch of salt

  • Put butter and brown sugar, flour, ground almonds, and salt into a mixing bowl.

  • Work mixture through fingers until it forms coarse crumbs, ranging in size from peas to gumdrops.

    • For the rhuberry filling

    1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, cut into 1/4in slices

    250g raspberries, or sliced strawberries, or a combination

    200g caster sugar

    2 tablespoons ready-made semolina

    1/2 teaspoon finely-grated orange zest and the juice of one orange

    Pinch of salt

  • Preheat oven to 190C.

  • Stir together the rhubarb, berries, sugar, semolina, orange zest, orange juice, and salt in a buttered baking dish.

  • Let it stand 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  • Sprinkle with topping, dividing evenly.

  • Bake for 40 minutes, or until topping turns golden and juices are bubbling.

  • Let it cool on a sheet on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

  • Serve with vanilla Greek-style yoghurt, if desired.