Stop the presses!

This is literally the best strawberry crumble you will ever taste…I promise.

The weather has finally started to come around in Chicago and not a minute too soon; I was beginning to panic. It started when my Editing professor told us that she was still wearing her down jacket one year at graduation (graduation is June 21st), and ended with a terrible semi-rain, semi-snow storm that had me asking: where did they put Spring? St. Louis has its ups and downs, but the one thing I could look forward to every year was consistently warm weather beginning at the end of April.

This weekend, though, the weather man’s predictions were proven wrong: what was supposed to be rain turned into two, bright sunny days. One day (in the middle of a long walk), I wondered into the grocery store, where the front table was piled high with massive containers of strawberries.

The weather (combined with my strawberry addiction) resulted in one delicious strawberry crumble. I find that when the weather gets warmer, all you need are simple recipes with basic ingredients: the orange juice and zest in this recipe bring out the flavor of the strawberries, and the light dusting of crumbly topping provides just the right amount of sweetness. Your entire home will smell like a strawberry pie…and you didn’t even need to roll out the crust.

I might consider sharing my leftover crumble with friends…that is, if there’s any left by tomorrow.

Strawberry Crumble (adapted from Desserts for Breakfast)

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
makes two 5″ crumbles or one 9″ crumble

for filling:
21 oz. strawberries, hulled and halved (or quartered, if you have bigger strawberries)
freshly grated zest of 1 large orange
3 Tbspn freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbspn corn starch

for crumb topping:
1 cup flour
3/4 tspn salt
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 stick butter, cold

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Make the filling first.  Toss and combine all of the filling ingredients in a bowl.  Spoon into the baking ramekins and set aside.
3. Make the crumb topping. Combine all of the ingredients except the butter in a bowl.
4. Using your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture.  Continue until the butter is the size of small peas and evenly distributed throughout the mixture.
5. Top the prepared ramekins generously with the crumb topping, patting it down if you need to pile more on.
6. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until bubbly and the tops are golden brown.  Remove and let cool briefly before serving.
7. Serve hot. You can reheat the crumbles if you don’t plan to eat them right away: 375 degrees F oven for 8-10 minutes.