What's For Dessert: Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble

Nothing says "summer" better than a strawberry-rhubarb crumble warm from the oven.

The combination of strawberry and rhubarb is a quintessential flavor of summer. And when that strawberry and rhubarb gets covered in a delicious sugary and buttery crumble? All the better in my book.

A couple of weeks ago, Dustin and I went strawberry picking at JP's Berries and Pumpkin Patch, a local farm located nearby in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. In less than 30 minutes, we picked around 9 pounds of berries.

Upon arrival home, I prepped the majority of the berries for the freezer. (I highly recommend using the straw trick to quickly hull the berries ... just poke a drinking straw through the bottom of the berry, and out pops the hull and leaves!)

Two quarts were set aside to eat fresh, and the remaining strawberries were destined for dessert. We also picked up a couple of pounds of freshly-harvested rhubarb at the farm, so the decision to make a strawberry-rhubarb crumble was basically a no-brainer.

I love a good crumble-to-fruit ratio, and this recipe delivers. The strawberry-rhubarb crumble can be served warm from the oven, at room temperature, or even chilled from the fridge. Just add a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream or freshly whipped cream and dessert is ready to be served.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble (printer-friendly version)

makes 8+ servings

For the topping:

1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1. Stir together the flour, oats, baking powder, sugars, cinnamon, and lemon zest.

2. Melt the butter over low heat. Add the melted butter to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Continue stirring until small to medium-sized crumbles form.

3. Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the filling:

2 cups chopped rhubarb (1/2" slices) 

4 cups strawberries, hulled and quartered

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 cup granulated sugar

juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon

pinch of fine sea salt

1. Combine the sliced rhubarb and strawberries in a large bowl. Stir in the cornstarch, sugar, lemon juice, and salt.

2. Let the fruit mixture sit for at least 15 minutes before putting together the whole dish.

To make the crumble:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Pour the fruit mixture into the bottom of an 9" x 13" baking dish. Make sure to spoon in any juices remaining in the bowl.

3. Top with the crumble mixture; be sure to cover the fruit mixture evenly with the crumbles.

4. Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling.

5. Allow to cool before serving. Serve with a small (or large!) scoop of high-quality vanilla ice cream.

(adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe)

This post was originally posted on June 10, 2010. The post has been updated with new content and photos.