Everyone Loves a Good Crumble

Remember all of these berries?

My freezer is straining at its seams right now, and I'm determined not to repeat any of last year's recipes. This is taking some serious brain power and imagination, so I'll be stretching these out for a while. Sit tight and watch for more!

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I'm heading to my in-laws' house for an annual Fourth of July visit. It's a nice day- hanging out by the pool (score!) and barbecue for dinner (I hear we're having fish- yippee!!). Ray and I leave when it gets dark and watch every fireworks show in Silicon Valley during the 1 hour drive.

I asked my mother-in-law if I could bake something to bring with me, so I made this strawberry crumble. It's sitting on my counter looking lovely and tempting; I haven't tasted it yet so I will return with an update after tasting it.

I looked at my Peach Crumble recipe as well as this crumble belonging to Deb from Smitten Kitchen. My recipe was great, but I wanted to try her topping with the baking powder. I only used my strawberries so I cut the sugar so it wouldn't be so sweet. I *hope* I got the proportions right.

If you use frozen strawberries, you don't need to get them completely thawed. Frozen or room temp the baking time will be about the same. But you do need to slice them so let them thaw a bit so you can get your knife through them. I woke up this morning and placed them on the counter before going to work out for an hour. When I came back they were just right to slice.

4th of July Strawberry Crumble
serves 4-6

Topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbs light brown sugar
3 Tbs regular sugar
zest from a lemon
6 Tbs unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
about 6 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen and slightly thawed), hulled and quartered
juice from a lemon
2-3 Tbs sugar
3 Tbs cornstarch
pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, toss the strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Scrape into an 8x8 baking dish (I used an oval baking dish because I'm traveling with it and it will fit better in a paper bag) and smooth the top.

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugars, and lemon zest. Add 1/3 of the melted butter and mix into the dry ingredients. Add another 1/3 of the butter and stir again, and finally the last 1/3. There should be large and small clumps.

Cover the fruit evenly with the topping. Place the dish on a baking sheet (optional, but a good idea in case of any leakage) and bake for about 50 minutes, until the topping is folden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Cool on a rack.

As you can see, my filling bubbled up quite a bunch. I'm hoping the crumble top survived and it still tastes good. Just looking at it, the topping method for the peach crumble seems superior, with more crunch and body after baking. I'll be back with that update!

**Update**

Delicious! The amount of lemon juice/sugar was spot on, and the crumble topping was nice (still think the version for the peaches is better, will make that next time). A scoop of vanilla ice cream is mandatory.
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