Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Crisps, Crumbles and Cobblers, Oh My! Nothing beats a warm sweet/tart filling with a crispy, buttery topping. Pair it with a scoop a good Vanilla Ice-Cream and you will be in heaven But wait, what's the difference between a Cobbler, Crisp and Crumble? Not much, except for the topping. A cobbler is topped with a sweetened biscuit dough(to resemble a cobble stone street, thus the name). A Crisp usually has rolled oats added to a flour, butter and sugar topping while a crumble's topping is like the crisp's just minus the oats. These desserts have been a part of our country's food histroy since colonial times. The British brought their version of pies with them which was a sweet or savory filling topped with a single crust. From there the recipes have evolved to what many of us know today. Ok, class is dismissed. Let's get down to baking. You can use just about any variety of fresh or frozen fruit your little heart desires. The adjustments will be how much sugar and how much thickener you will need to use. As to thickeners. The standard is usually flour. I personally, don't like flour because it can sometimes give your filling a chalky taste. It can also fail to thicken if you do not have the ratio(flour to fruit) just right. This can be tricky because the juice fruit might contain can vary with variety and growing conditions. Just contemplating all that adjusting gives me a headache. So I prefer to use instant tapioca(Which has not flavor or color) or a cornstarch slurry. Which is cornstarch mixed in a cold liquid and added to the fruit filling. Both of these thicken with more consistency than flour but both have to come to a boil before they will reach their maximum thickening ability. So you have to watch your crisp and keep it in the oven long enough to see that it is bubbling around the edges. I hope my long explanation does not deter you from trying a crisp soon. These little gems are perfect especially during spring and summer when all the wonderful fruit is in season.

Yield: About 8 servings

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup all­purpose flour
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light­ brown sugar

10 Tbsp butter, cold and diced into small pieces
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 lb fresh strawberries, stemmed and sliced into three pieces

24 oz fresh or frozen rhubarb, sliced into 1/2­inch pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp orange zest
1/4 cup (2 oz) orange juice
1/4 cup minute tapioca
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 3-4 quart baking dish with baking spray , set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, oats, brown sugar, making sure you have no lumps of sugar.
Add butter and vanilla bean paste and rub into mixture with finger tips until it comes together and the butter chunks are no larger than the size of a pea. Transfer to refrigerator while preparing filling.
In a mixing bowl toss together strawberries, rhubarb,sugar,tapioca, orange zest and juice. Pour into prepared baking dish.
Sprinkle crumble evenly over top. Bake in preheated oven 40-50 minutes until juices
are bubbling and crisp is golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
Recipe source: Inspired by Ina Garten's Crisp