Old-Fashioned Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
When I was young my Irish mother used to make a rhubarb sauce that we would eat for breakfast with toast. Sometimes she would include strawberries, sometimes not. I always thought it was just some special dish Mom made as I never heard of anyone else eating rhubarb. Then I met my husband and his favorite pie was strawberry-rhubarb. We moved into our current house and our next door neighbor also shared a love for this delicious pie. A few years ago we went to Ireland and stayed in a bed and breakfast in Dublin. Every morning they served a traditional Irish Breakfast…sausage, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms…but they also served frittatas, omelettes, fresh fruit and baked goods, and rhubarb sauce! It brought me back to my childhood and I realized that the use of rhubarb is not all that uncommon after all.
This past weekend I saw rhubarb at the store and decided to make a crisp for a change. The original recipe called for mass quantities of sugar, so I cut it down a bit. Also, it was supposed to be made in a 9 x 13 pan, which I did, but I felt the topping masked the strawberries and rhubarb, so I also made those adjustments here.
If you’ve never had rhubarb it’s certainly worth a try!
Old Fashioned Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients –
Fruit mixture
Filling:
- 2 pounds rhubarb stalks, sliced ½ inch thick
- ¾ cups sugar
- 1 pound strawberries, hulled and quartered
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
Topping
- ½ stick unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cups quick-cooking rolled oats
- 1½ tablespoons canola oil
- 1¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
Steps:
- Preheat oven to 375°
- In a bowl, toss the rhubarb with ½ cup sugar and let stand for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In another bowl, toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup sugar and let stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Using a slotted spoon, transfer the rhubarb to the strawberries; discard any rhubarb juice.
- Add the cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla to the fruit and stir thoroughly.
- Transfer the mixture to a 10-by-10 inch glass baking dish.
- For the topping, combine all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, mix the ingredients together until large crumbs form.
- Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit and bake for 30 minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 325° and continue baking for about 30 minutes longer, or until the fruit filling is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Let the crisp rest for 10- to 20 minutes before serving.
The final product…nice and golden brown!
If you like ice cream with your pie, try some vanilla ice cream with the crisp…it’s delicious!
Enjoy!
Dugan's Kitchen 