Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp...with a citrusy flair

Our local Whatcom county strawberries are finally here, and I couldn't wait to start working on some recipes to use them!  Conveniently, my parents were taking a group of people from church out for an evening dessert cruise.  As I was put in charge of desserts, it gave me a great excuse to bake!  For the evening, I decided to do one chocolatey dessert (post to come), one fruity dessert, and some fresh local strawberries with a simple mock devonshire cream (sour cream and brown sugar).  For the fruity dessert, I decided I would make a nice strawberry-rhubarb crisp to show off some of the local produce that is just fantastic this time of year.

This recipe has a lot of fruit.  Indeed, it will fill your 9"x13" pan nearly to the brim just with the fruit, and then the topping will fill it the rest of the way up.  But remember, the fruit will cook down a bit in the oven and you'll have a nice substantial crisp.  I also decided to add some orange-iness to the recipe, because I thought it would go really well with the bright flavor of the rhubarb and sweetness of the berries.  To do this, I added some orange zest as well as fresh orange juice.  Lemon zest would be a great addition here as well.  The citrus keeps the dessert from being overly sweet and one-dimensional, and really brightens the other flavors in the pan.  There is also some zest added to the topping to keep the flavors consistent throughout.

A key to any crisp is to make sure you cook it for a long time.  Even if you're tempted to take it out as soon as the topping turns golden-brown, don't do it!  Wait until the fruit is bubbling up all around the outside of the topping, and possibly even spouting up out of a couple of places in the middle.  This will make sure that the crisp sets enough so it's not just fruity oatmeal soup.  Put it on the middle rack of the oven and let it go for about an hour, maybe even more.  One of my friends once said that it's always good to keep a crisp in the oven longer because it will only make it 'crisp'-ier.  It's true, at least to a point.

So go ahead and try this out when you're in the mood for a sweet, tart, crunchy, fruity dessert and you won't be disappointed.  When paired with some Tillamook vanilla bean ice cream, you just can't go wrong!

Here's the recipe:

Strawberry-Rhubarb Citrus Crisp
Yield: 10-12 servings

Fruit layer:
7 c. rhubarb, sliced 1/4" thick
7 c. strawberries, quartered
1 c. sugar
4 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Zest of 1 medium orange
Juice of 1/2 medium orange

Mix fruit layer ingredients together in a large bowl and pour into a greased 9"x13" glass pan.

Topping:

1 1/2 c. flour

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. orange zest

6 oz. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

Mix together everything except for the butter.  Then pour in melted butter and stir with a fork until evenly mixed.  The mixture should be crumbly.  Crumble it on top of the fruit mixture, trying to cover as much of the exposed fruit as possible.  Bake at 350˚F for about an hour, or until the fruit is bubbling up around the edges of the crisp.  Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of hours.  It's best to serve the crisp while it's still warm, but not so hot that it doesn't have time to set up.  This dessert is wonderful served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.  Enjoy!