I just wanted to share photos of my first crisp of the spring & summer season! Every year I wait for my neighbor Rita to bring over stalks of rhubarb from her garden (it grows in a wild thatch) and that is the signal to start crisping. Sometimes I’ll just use the chopped rhubarb (tossed with a bit of cornstarch and some sugar) and no other fruit, but for this one I added strawberries because my family demands it. You don’t need much sugar in the fruit, just a little to balance the tartness of the rhubarb (plus there is some sugar in the crisp topping, although that is optional as well) and I also like to add a bit of vanilla.
For the topping I combined: rolled oats, chopped almonds (but you can do pecans or walnuts), some what germ (because I had it so why not), brown sugar, and cinnamon. Then I add in some cold cubes of butter with a pastry cutter or two knives so that it’s evenly combined with the dry ingredients.
The fruit goes into a buttered baking dish, the topping in a layer on top, and into a 375 degree oven at 400. Bake until brown on top until bubbling (about 40 minutes).
Within a day, a single crisp gets pretty much annihilated by my entire family. Rita gets her share in exchange for the rhubarb, and the rest of us devour it with yogurt for breakfast, and also as an afternoon snack. Is there anything better and more simple than a crisp? Undoubtedly no.
