I am always enthusiastic about strawberries. The first berries of the season are always fresh, but not always sweet. Their sweetness grows as the new spring progresses until suddenly their fragrance fills the air. Walking through the farmers’ market I could smell strawberries! And so I was delighted to buy those aqua boxes filled with firm red strawberries from every farmer who was offering them for sale.
The rest of the story is I bought too many. Not a new story. After cleaning and eating bowls of strawberries on yogurt, ice cream, cake, and whipped cream I had to go bigger.
This weekend is the un-official start of summer. Picnics and pot luck dinners are filling our calendars. So…what better way to use up my pile of strawberries (and be a pot luck hero!) than to bake a delicious dessert to share. Hence strawberry crumble!
This recipe goes together quickly and easily. And uses lots of strawberries!
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Ingredients…for the strawberry filling…
2 quarts of fresh strawberries (cleaned and sliced)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 cup all purpose flour
Directions…for the strawberry filling…
1. Put the strawberries in a 9×23 inch baking dish.
2. Mix the sugar, vanilla, and flour together
3. Sprinkle the sugar mixture over the strawberries. Shake the dish to slightly mix in the sugar mixture. Set aside.
Ingredients…for the crumble topping…
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small chunks (I grate the cold butter on a cheese grater, large holes)
1/2 cup oatmeal (NOT quick cooking)
4 tablespoons sugar
Directions…for the crumble topping…
1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. With a fork, mix the butter into the mixture.
3. Next, again with the fork, stir in the oats and sugar.
4. Evenly cover the strawberries with the crumble
5. Bake for 30 minutes.
The crumble is ready when it is slightly golden and the strawberry juices are bubbling through the topping.
This is delicious served warm, at room temperature, or cold from the refrigerator.
It is likewise delicious served plain, with cake, with cake and whipped cream, with cake and ice cream and whipped cream.
Strawberries purchased from A. T. Buzby Farm, Fruitwood Farms, Muth Organic Farm, Springdale Farms…all at the Collingswood Farmers’s Market. And all delicious!
yellow room upstairs 