Welcome World and Hello Summer!

- Amanda

 

So here it goes.  My first blog post here on A Treat Life.  Welcome and thanks for stopping by.  I’ve gotta admit I’ve been putting this off.  Taking that first leap is always the hardest part, isn’t it?  It is for me at least.  Stepping out of my comfort zone and doing something new or new again was a little scary.  But I’m excited to share some recipes again and see where this goes.  I hope you’ll enjoy along with me. 

As it’s June and we’re right in the middle of strawberry season, I thought this strawberry crumble would be a great recipe to start things off.  It’s delicious, really quick to put together and highlights all the amazingness of this fruit at it’s peak.

Here in Istanbul, organic strawberries are not available all year long.  Conventional strawberries are also not too easy to find out of season.  Being a dirty dozen fruit,  the former is my preferred choice.  So once Spring started up and I started noticing strawberries at the organic bazaar, its safe to say I did a little dance and went hog wild.  I buy two big baskets weekly.  One for immediate consumption and recipes like this crumble and the other to freeze for smoothies year round.  I’ll share a great method for getting the most out of these red beauties in a later post. 

It’s funny, when writing this post, I couldn’t decide whether or not I wanted to call it a crumble or a crisp.  I feel like I’ve used both terms interchangeably for this type of dessert.  So potato patato.  Call it what you’d like- a strawberry crumble or strawberry crisp.  The end result will still be a hit.  A sweet, little bit tart, semi-gooey bowl of awesome with a crunchy, nutty topping.      I used pistachios for some pretty color contrast and since they are a popular nut here and very reasonably priced compared to back home.  But almonds or walnuts or no nuts at all would work just fine too.  And while this dessert (or breakfast, anyone?) highlights the sweetness of in season strawberries, frozen I’d imagine would get the job done as well…… It’s delicious warm topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or even cold straight out of the fridge.   

Definitely give this recipe a try and let me know if you do.  I’d love to hear how it went! 

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Strawberry Crumble

A quick and easy, delicious dessert highlighting sweet summer strawberries topped with a crispy oat crust.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

For the Filling

  • 3 1/2 cups strawberries quartered
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp orange juice
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • pinch cinnamon

For the Crumble Topping

  • 1 c old fashioned oats
  • 2/3 c all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 c plus 2 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 7 tbsp cold butter cubed
  • 1-2 tbsp chopped pistachios

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F / 180C
  2. Butter an 8" glass baking dish.

  3. In a medium bowl combine the strawberries, flour, sugar, lemon & orange juice, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon.

  4. Stir to combine and set aside.

  5. In a separate large bowl combine the dry ingredients for the topping except the nuts.

  6. With your hands or a pastry cutter gently massage the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles pea-sized crumbs.
  7. Pour the fruit filling into the prepared baking dish.
  8. Add the topping and spread evenly.
  9. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and bubbly. Let cool slightly so the juices can settle.
  10. Serve warm or cold.
  11. Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired.

Recipe Notes

*The crumble will keep refrigerated for 3-4 days.  

*Any nut will work nicely or no nuts at all.