A Hot Mess

Get it?  This is strawberry rhubarb crumble.  It is, quite literally, a hot mess.  And it is the best dessert I’ve had in a long time.

A crumble is like a crisp or a cobbler.  I’m sure there are differences among them, but what they are has never held my attention.  They are all composed largely of fruit, and they are all topped with buttery, sugary goodness.  Does it really matter what you call them?

The story behind this particular crumble is that my friend, Little One, made it ages ago.  And then she made it again, and again, and again, all the while touting it on Facebook.  Then Ali made it too.  And so I had to give it a go.

Hello summer staple.  This is the easiest dessert ever.  Chop up a bunch of fruit.  Drop some crumbly stuff over top.  Cook.  Plop a scoop of ice cream on top.  The flavors of the roasted fruit are to die for, and the crumbs crisp up just exactly the way you’d want them to.  You could do this with any old combination you want and end up with equally amazing results.  Also fruit?  Healthy!  Clearly, this is a guilt-free dish.

To make a strawberry rhubarb crumble for 6, you will need:

For the crumble:

• 1 1/3 C flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3 T sugar
• 3 T Demerara, or turbinado sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 stick butter, melted

For the fruit mixture:

• 1 1/2 C rhubarb, chopped in 1-inch pieces
• 1 qt. strawberries, plus a couple more, hulled and quartered
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 C sugar
• 3 T cornstarch (though Little One swears it’s better without)
• pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine ingredients for crumble in small bowl until clumps of varying size form.  Refrigerate until needed.

Prepare filling by tossing ingredients together in a deep-dish, 9-inch pie plate.  Actually, that’s what Deb says.  I used a regular depth, 9.5-inch plate, and a little less fruit and was no worse for the wear.

Remove topping from fridge, and cover fruit with all topping.  Place dish on a foil lined baking sheet (the fruit may bubble up and over the edge of the dish), and bake 40-50 minutes, until topping is golden, and the fruit juices are bubbling everywhere.  Serve hot and a la mode.