Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Soccer weekends with my daughter can provide quality mother-daughter time and the opportunity to experience the area’s local grocery stores’ produce section. Do others find it exciting to touch, feel and smell things in the produce section?
This past trip away we stopped at Meijers up in the Toledo area. We were wowed by the variety of fresh fruits ready for our picking. With this being Spring, the rhubarb stood out the most. It was sitting there on the shelf looking amazingly fresh! Long, firm, deep red stalks just screaming at me to buy.
It’s been a while since I’ve baked with rhubarb. It’s not a fruit I’m head over heals about, but I do enjoy a serving or two when it’s in season.
Because of the tartness rhubarb offers it’s generally served with sugar and usually paired with other fruits…like strawberries!
The tartness from the rhubarb and the sweetness from the strawberries make a real tongue-pleasing combo. This recipe also calls for orange zest and orange juice. Anytime I see a recipe with orange juice added to it I am like a magnet to it. The zest adds just the right amount of fragrance and the juice adds an added depth of natural sweetness.
Crisps can be saucy… or not. If for some crazy reason the entire crisp is not eaten right away, the extra sauce can always be used spooned over a bowl full of ice cream or plain yogurt.
I adjusted the liquid in this recipe and increased the cornstarch. Not much but just enough to give it the consistency I was looking for. I also used a 9×13 inch-baking dish. The original recipe called for an 8×11 inch-baking dish. The crumb mixture was stretched a bit but it works perfectly fine. Either baking dish size will work.
If you’ve never given rhubarb a chance, this is the time. It’s a sweet tart reward!
Ingredients
4 cups fresh rhubarb, 1-inch diced (8-10 stalks)
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved, if large
¾ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp. grated orange zest (1 orange)
2 T. cornstarch
1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (1 orange)
Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
½ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
1 cup quick or old-fashioned oatmeal
12 T. (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
Vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
For the fruit, toss the rhubarb, strawberries, ¾ cup of granulated sugar and the orange zest together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice and then mix it into the fruit. Pour the mixture into 9×13 inch baking dish (or 8×11 inch baking dish).
For the topping, in a bowl combine the flour, ½ cup of granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt and oatmeal. Combine this mixture by using a pasty cutter or a mixer with a paddle attachment. You want to mix until the dry ingredients are moist and the mixture is in crumbles. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit, covering it completely, and bake for about 1 hour (I always check at 40 min…and rotate dish if needed), until the fruit is bubbling and topping is golden brown. Serve warm for the best sauciness J
Slightly Adapted from Barefoot Contessa