My favorite way to use seasonal rhubarb and strawberries is in this delicious dessert. I have been making it this way for years and don’t even remember where I found the recipe, although I thought it had come from the now-closed Chanterelle restaurant in New York City. Wherever it originally came from, it now resides in my recipe collection and here on my blog. (And once you try it, in your recipe collection as well.)
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Fruit Mixture
2 baking pans/cookie sheets
36 oz strawberries (roughly 3 quarts)
36 oz rhubarb (roughly 3 pounds)
1½ C granulated sugar
3 T flour
2 T granulated sugar
Crumb Topping
4 oz (1 stick) butter, chilled
1/3 C granulated sugar
1/3 C packed brown sugar (use dark brown sugar if on hand)
1¼ C flour
¼ t salt
2-3 T turbinado sugar (i.e. Sugar in the Raw), optional
Preheat oven to 250 degrees and grease (or spray with cooking spray) a 12 x 8 rectangular baking dish.
Prepare the fruit: Dice the rhubarb into ½-inch pieces. Toss the diced rhubarb with ¾ C of the sugar and spread the mixture out on a baking pan. Stem and quarter the strawberries (or halve them, if smaller) and toss them with the remaining ¾ C sugar. Spread the strawberries out on another baking pan. Place both pans in the oven and bake at 250 for 1½ hours. The fruit will soften and lose about half of its water content. Remove the trays from the oven and allow the fruit to cool to room temperature. Raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees.
Make the crumb topping: In a stainless steel bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, brown sugar and salt. Cut the cold butter into ¼” cubes, and add to the sugar-flour mixture, tossing and chopping with a pastry cutter (or two knives) to make a crumbly texture. The crumb topping is finished once all the butter is coated with flour and is no larger than pea sized. Allow the crumb topping to sit out at room temperature (do not refrigerate), uncovered, until ready to use.
Bake the fruit crisp: Scrape the room temperature rhubarb and strawberries, along with whatever syrup is left on the pans, into a bowl and fold in the remaining 2 T sugar and 3 T flour. Spread the filling evenly in the greased baking dish. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the fruit. Sprinkle the topping with turbinado sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crumb topping has browned and the fruit is bubbling beneath.
Step by Step Details
Use the freshest possible rhubarb and strawberries. Dice the rhubarb into ½-inch pieces, and stem and quarter the strawberries (or halve them, if smaller). You will have approximately equal amounts of each, which would be more obvious if I’d used two of the same containers here.
Add ¾ C of sugar to each bowl.
Stir to combine, and spread each mixture out on a separate baking pan.
Place both pans in the oven and bake at 250 for 1½ hours. The fruit will soften and lose about half of its water content, creating a syrup as well.
Remove the pans from the oven and allow the fruit to cool to room temperature. Raise the oven temperature to 375 degrees.
In a stainless steel bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, brown sugar and salt.
Cut the cold butter into ¼” cubes, and add to the sugar-flour mixture.
Toss and chop the mixture with a pastry cutter (or two knives) to make a crumbly texture, scraping the cutter (or knives) as needed. The crumb topping is finished once all the butter is coated with flour and is no larger than pea sized.
Allow the crumb topping to sit out at room temperature (do not refrigerate), uncovered, until ready to use.
Scrape the room temperature rhubarb and strawberries, along with whatever syrup is left on the pans, into a bowl. Don’t take photos of this step of you are likely to spill on the counter.
Add the remaining 2 T sugar and 3 T flour and gently mix to combine.
Spread the filling evenly in the greased baking dish.
Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the fruit.
Sprinkle the topping with turbinado sugar. This optional step just adds a little extra color and crunch to the finished topping.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the crumb topping has browned and the fruit is bubbling beneath.
Allow to cool a bit before serving, as it will stay hot a long time. Serve warm, and if you have more vanilla ice cream remaining in the freezer than I apparently did, serve some alongside the warm crisp. Enjoy!
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