While both strawberry and rhubarb season in the Northeast have long since come and gone this year, there’s no time like the present to share one of my family’s hands-down favorite deserts from late spring/early summer: strawberry rhubarb crisp. Now, I’ve shared a crumble before and you may wonder, “what the heck is the difference between a crisp and a crumble?” To which I say: both are variations of a baked fruit dessert with a crunchy streusel topping that often contains oats. And a lot of it depends on what part of the country you grew up in! Kind of like the whole frappe/milkshake thing.
Perhaps you may also know this sort of baked fruit dessert with various toppings as a pandowdy, a betty, a slump, a sonker, a cobbler, a grunt, a buckle…all of which sound pretty silly but I know deep down in my heart of hearts that I would demolish any of them put in front of me. Know thyself, and all.
One of my favorite edible perennials (and one of the very first things I planted when we moved here in 2020) to grow is rhubarb, both for their prehistoric leaves, ability to fill in an empty space in a flower bed, and, of course, how flipping delicious the stems are in any form. I have three different plants tucked in various areas of our property, all at different stages of maturity. It bears repeating to absolutely never ever eat the leaves due to their high oxalic acid, but go hog-wild with the stems. You can even eat them raw dipped in sugar, but be warned that they’re extremely tart and this isn’t for the faint of heart.
And speaking of harvesting rhubarb, a good rule of them is to twist and pull, never cut! That’s because when you cut at the base of the stem, the remaining part of the stalk withers up. However, with the twist and pull method, you’re signaling to the plant. “Hey! We’re missing a stem and therefore cannot photosynthesize as much! Grow another in its place ASAP!”
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📖 Recipe
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients
For filling:
- 1 lb. rhubarb cut into ½” pieces (about 4 cups)
- 4 cups strawberries hulled and halved
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- juice from 1 fresh orange
For crisp:
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup butter softened
- zest from 1 orange
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and butter a 13"x9" baking dish.
- Prepare the topping by mixing 1.5 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup rolled oats, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup softened butter, and zest from 1 orange and set aside.
- In a large bowl, toss together 1 pound rhubarb, 4 cups strawberries, ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons cornstarch, and juice from 1 fresh orange until everything is evenly coated. The cornstarch is what keeps this from turning into a soggy mess, so don't skip it. Pour the filling into your prepared baking dish and spread it out evenly.
- Scatter the crisp topping evenly over the fruit filling —I like to use a cookie scoop for uniform pieces and because my kids are crisp monsters!
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the topping is deeply golden and the fruit filling is bubbling up around the edges. If it's browning too fast, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
- Cool for 15 minutes to let filling set, then serve warm.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream! Perfect as a last-minute dessert for a gathering because it’s delicious, simple, and highlights seasonal produce.
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