Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

Have you eaten any crumble yet this summer? Crumbles seem to capture the flavor of summer, and they might be one of the simplest baked desserts to assemble.

 

Just toss together some fruit, sugar, and a thickener, dump it in a pan, top it with a mixture of butter, flour, oats, spices, and pop it in the oven. Wait a little bit for the fruit to cook and release its juices, and the topping to brown and become crunchy, and you’ll be set. You can even bake some crumble as you eat dinner, and it will be warm enough to melt the edges of a big scoop of ice cream when you eat it for dessert.

Notes:
I used white whole wheat flour for this recipe, however if don’t have white whole wheat flour, you can use all-purpose flour instead. If you don’t have ground cardamom, try replacing it in the crumble topping with extra cinnamon, nutmeg, or ginger. This is relatively tart, so if you’d like it to be sweeter, add a bit more sugar to the strawberry-rhubarb filling mixture. When you pull this from the oven, the filling will be molten and runny. As the crumble cools, the filling will thicken. I like to eat this with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Filling Ingredients:
3 cups sliced strawberries
2½ cups diced rhubarb
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour

Crumble Ingredients:
½ cup white whole wheat flour
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon cardamom
1¼ cup rolled oats
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cubed and cold

Yields one 9x13 pan

Mix, Crumble, Bake:
Set a rack at the middle level of the oven, and preheat to 400°F. In a large bowl, toss together the strawberries, rhubarb, granulated and brown sugars, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Scrape the mixture into a 9x13-inch pan, and set aside. In a separate medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, cardamom, rolled oats, light brown sugar, and butter. Use your fingertips to work the butter into the dry ingredients until it is pea-sized. Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the strawberry-rhubarb filling, and place the pan in the preheated oven. Bake at 400°F for 25-30 minutes until the rhubarb is fully cooked (a toothpick inserted into a piece of rhubarb meets no resistance), the juices are bubbling, and the crumble topping is lightly browned. Eat warm or cold with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Refrigerate any leftovers. Pin It