Sunday, April 12, 2009

Cookish: What's for Dessert?

Spring Berry Crisp


I wish I had a picture of this for you, but I baked it at my parents' house for Easter and did not bring my camera. Mia culpa.


This was a thrown-together experiment, so there are caveats you should heed at the end.


Berry Mixture

1 pint fresh strawberries (frozen would work, but fresh were available and on sale, so why not?)
1 bag frozen blackberries (or berries of your choice)
3 tbs sugar
3 tbs flour (I might use cornstarch nxt time)
Pinch salt

Topping
1 stick butter (salted), softened
½ c oats
½ c flour
Pinch salt
¼ c white sugar
¼ c brown sugar


I used a 9 1/2 in pie plate to make this in. I tossed in the frozen blackberries, cut the strawberries into quarters and threw them in, sprinkled over the other ingredients and sprinkled them on top. I tasted my strawberries and they were pretty sweet. If yours aren't, you may want some more sugar. Toss, toss, spread evenly in dish. Mix together the topping ingredients into a crumbly mixture and sprinkle on top. I wasn't sure of the temperature, so I baked at 350 for about 20-25 minutes,determined that was not hot enough, and raised it to 400 for 10 more minutes. Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.


Notice that there is not a lot of sugar in this. The crumble has a good amount of salt flavor and the sweet-savory balance is nice. This is perfect served with vanilla ice cream. I have made a strawberry-rhubarb crumble in the past that had quite a bit more sugar in it, but it was a little too sweet for my taste. You could go as high as 1/2 c of each white and brown sugar in the topping if you like a little more sweetness.


I was also unsure that the flour was enough of a thickening agent; it was still a little runny, so I might do cornstarch next time. It was delicious, though.

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