Rhubarb is here at last, in all its tangy pink glory. Though technically a vegetable, culinarily rhubarb qualifies as the first fruit of spring, and its appearance at the end of a long winter is a cause for celebration in these parts.

It’s probably a good thing rhubarb makes its arrival solo, just when we are most hungry for fruit, or we might be tempted to ignore it. Truth is, compared to the riches to come – the sweet berries, luscious peaches and cherries of summer followed by the incomparable pears and apples of fall – rhubarb is pretty humble. For one thing, you can’t eat it sun-warmed and freshly picked, but must cook it first with lots of sugar to make it palatable. And then, once cooked, it loses its crunch altogether, taking on the consistency of one of those nutritious purees that babies and invalids make faces at.

But even cooked, rhubarb is a gorgeous sight (at least if you’ve got the pink kind, which is the only kind I bother with). Rhubarb tea, the color of pink bougainvillea, looks like it came straight from Jamaica. And while a little more subdued in hue, rhubarb fool (sweetened rhubarb puree mixed with whipped cream) beats even pink Marshmallow Fluff for eye appeal.

That said, for a rhubarb recipe to really shine, the mushiness of the fruit needs to be balanced by a crunchy component – think rhubarb pie and rhubarb crumble. I happen to be especially fond of crumbles of any sort. They are simplicity itself to make – one part butter, two parts flour, two parts sugar, a little spice, a little salt – mixed with deft fingertips in only a few minutes. And they are heavenly in the mouth, especially when coupled with something soft and tart, like rhubarb.

Knowing how to make rhubarb crumble is practically a citizenship requirement in New Hampshire, so I won’t bother with that recipe, but below you will find two variations on the theme. Both are made with lots of crumble and both contain the distinctly un-local addition of citrus fruits (sorry, diehard locavores), lemon in the first, orange in the second. There is something about citrus that makes it a perfect foil for rhubarb. Both recipes would be good without it, but with it are ever so much better.

Rhubarb Crumble Muffins

 For the muffins:

• 2 cups flour
• 1-1/4 cups sugar, divided into ½ and ¾ cups
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• ½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter (if you use salted, omit the salt), melted and cooled
• grated rind of one lemon (wash before grating, especially if the lemon isn’t organic)
• juice of one lemon
• 1-1/2 cups chopped rhubarb (cubes should be ½” or less)
• 1 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 recipe crumble (below)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a muffin tray with muffin cups, or butter and flour each cup.

In a small bowl, combine the rhubarb, ½ cup sugar and the lemon rind. Set aside to macerate.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter and eggs until well combined. Whisk in the yogurt or buttermilk and lemon juice.

Add the rhubarb to the dry ingredients and toss well to distribute the fruit. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour and rhubarb mixture and stir gently with a spatula or wooden spoon just until well combined.

Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle crumble over the batter, dividing the crumble evenly between the muffins. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, turning once so they bake evenly. The muffins are done when they spring back when touched in the center.

Crumble

• ½ stick (¼ cup) unsalted butter, still on the cool side, cut into pieces
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ½ cup flour
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Use your fingers to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is well-combined. If the mixture is too sandy looking, squeeze the ingredients with your fingers and then break them apart into pea-sized crumbs.

 Rhubarb Swirl Ice Cream with Crumble Cookies

For the ice cream:

• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• ½ vanilla bean
• grated rind of one orange (be sure to wash the orange well first, especially if it’s not organic)
• ½ cup brown sugar (packed)
• yolks of 8 eggs

For the rhubarb swirl:

• 1 lb. rhubarb, chopped
• ½ cup sugar
• juice of one orange

Cut the vanilla bean in half the long way, then using a small knife scrape the seeds out of the bean into a medium pot. Add the bean, the milk, the cream and the orange rind to the pot and bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over low heat. Shut the heat off, put the lid on the pot and allow the mixture to steep while you prepare the rest of the recipe.

Combine the rhubarb, sugar and orange juice in a non-reactive pot and bring to a simmer over low heat. Allow the mixture to cook and thicken for about 20 minutes – ½ hour. Stir occasionally to keep the mixture from burning. The swirl is done when it takes on the consistency of jam. Allow the mixture to cool for several minutes and then refrigerate several hours until cold.

Reheat the cream mixture over a low flame. Meanwhile whisk the brown sugar into the egg yolks, combining for a minute or so until the mixture lightens and thickens just a little bit. Whisking constantly, pour some of the hot cream into the yolks to temper them. When you’ve poured about half the cream into the yolks, pour the tempered mixture into the pot with the rest of the cream. Keep the heat very low while you stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon, being sure not to let the mixture boil (this will cause it to curdle). The mixture will gradually thicken until it coats the wooden spoon; this will take about 5-10 minutes.

When the mixture has thickened, pour it into a bowl and then set the bowl into a larger bowl filled ½ way with ice water (be careful not to slosh water into the ice cream). Stir the ice cream to cool it quickly to room temperature. When cool, cover and refrigerate several hours, until cold.

When cold, use an ice cream maker to freeze the orange vanilla ice cream, following the manufacturer’s directions. When the mixture is ready for the freezer, scoop it into a container. Plop spoonfuls of the rhubarb mixture over the top of the orange-vanilla ice cream and then use a knife to swirl the mixture through the ice cream. Put the swirled ice cream into the deep freeze to harden for several hours.

When ready to serve, let it sit at room temperature until it warms enough to scoop easily. Scoop it onto crumble cookies and serve. If you like, use two cookies to make ice cream sandwiches.

Crumble Cookies

• 1 stick unsalted butter (8 Tbs.), still on the cool side, cut into pieces
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ½ cup flour
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put parchment paper on two cookie sheets.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Use your fingers to incorporate the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is well-combined. If the mixture is too sandy looking, squeeze the ingredients with your fingers and then break them apart into pea-sized crumbs.

Divide the crumble into small piles, six to a sheet. Gently press the crumble down and shape it into 12 circles. Don’t press too hard – you want it to remain a bit crumbly.

Bake the cookies for 5 – 10 minutes, until the edges are brown and the center golden. Allow to cool on the cookie sheets before trying to move them.