Strawberries and rhubarb have long been a compatible flavor combination in baked goods and this Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp proves that to be so.
If you don’t have both fresh rhubarb and fresh strawberries available at the same time, frozen rhubarb could be used but additional thickener may be required depending on how much moisture is frozen in and around the rhubarb.
Fresh strawberries are recommended for this recipe as frozen strawberries tend to release a lot of moisture and become mushy and, again, additional thickener would likely be required as, otherwise, a “soupy” dessert is probable. It would be difficult to give an amount of thickener required if frozen strawberries were used as it depends on how much moisture is frozen in them. If possible, it’s best to use fresh strawberries, making this a wonderful treat during strawberry season.
This is quite a basic simple dessert to make. Start off by making the streusel and refrigerating it to keep the butter in it cold until the streusel is called for in the recipe method. Once the rhubarb and cut-up strawberries are combined with the orange juice and sugar, they will start to release their juices and the sooner you can get the streusel topping on the fruit base and get it into the oven to start baking, the less watery/soupy the base is likely to be.
The streusel recipe that accompanies this fruit dessert is my go-to streusel recipe for most of my crisp desserts. The addition of the almond flour adds lovely texture and flavor to the topping. Don’t omit or substitute another product for the almond flour if you want a truly lovely streusel topping. Almond flour is a flour I bake with a lot and those of you who regularly make my recipes will have noted this.
Almond flour is sold in small bags and is readily available in most large supermarkets (sometimes in the regular baking aisle and sometimes in the special diet product section (e.g., where gluten-free products are found)). It can also be bought in any amount, small or large, at bulk food stores throughout Canada. This streusel topping can be made in volume and frozen in an airtight container to conveniently have ready to sprinkle over any kind of fruit crisp.
Wash, dry, and chop the rhubarb into pieces about ½” – ¾” wide. Hull, wash, and dry the strawberries and coarsely chop them to roughly about the same size as the rhubarb but no need to fuss over exact size as it doesn’t really matter in this recipe. If the berries are quite small, some or all could be left whole. Mix up the dry ingredients and toss, along with the orange juice, with the rhubarb and strawberries in a large bowl. A 1.5qt (1.4 ltr) casserole dish is required for this dessert. It can, however, be made into individual baked desserts, too, using oven-safe ramekins that each have about a one cup capacity. I love serving individual sized desserts. They plate well and stay intact, especially crisp type of desserts like this Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp.
For those who like to prepare make-ahead desserts for the freezer, this one is one to add to the roster. Be sure to use freezer and oven-safe bakeware. Prepare the crisp as per the recipe. Cover crisp with tin foil and secure with an elastic band to hold the streusel in place. Place in airtight freezer container or ziplok freezer bag, label, date, and freeze. When ready to bake crisp(s), remove tin foil and bake dessert from frozen state. Crisp may require approximately 8-10 minutes longer baking time.
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRISP
Streusel Ingredients:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/8 cup almond flour
¾ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch salt
½ tsp cardamon
½ cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
¾ cup quick cooking rolled oats
¼ cup chopped nuts (e.g., pecans, walnuts, almonds, pistachios) [optional]
Strawberry Rhubarb Base Ingredients:
1 lb (454 grams) rhubarb, sliced into ½ – ¾” pieces
½ lb (225g) fresh strawberries, hulled, washed, and coarsely chopped
1½ tbsp orange juice
½ cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
6½ tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp finely grated orange rind
¾ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp nutmeg
Pinch salt
Method:
Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Grease 1½-quart (1.4 ltr) baking dish.
Method For Streusel Topping:
In medium-sized bowl, combine flours, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Using pastry blender, cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in rolled oats and chopped nuts (if using). Cover mixture and place in refrigerator while preparing the strawberry-rhubarb base.
Method For Strawberry Rhubarb Base:
Wash and dry rhubarb stalks and cut into pieces about ½” – ¾” thick or so. Place in large bowl. Hull, wash, and dry strawberries and coarsely cut each. Small strawberries may be left whole, if desired. Add to the rhubarb in bowl and sprinkle with orange juice.
In separate bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, grated orange rind, spices, and salt. Mix well. Add to the rhubarb and strawberry mixture and toss to coat.
Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish.
Sprinkle streusel topping evenly over rhubarb and strawberries.
Place baking pan on rimmed baking sheet (lined with tin foil for easy clean-up should fruit mixture bubble out).
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until topping is crisp and golden tanned, fruit mixture is soft when knife-tested, and juices from the fruit mixture are bubbling up around the edges of the crisp topping. Remove from oven and let the crisp cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.
Serve plain or with a dollop of whipped cream or favourite vanilla ice cream.
Yield: Apx. 6 servings
Note 1: This crisp can be divided between six to seven individual baking dishes (apx. 1 cup capacity each) and baked as individual desserts. These will bake about 35-38 minutes.
Note 2: This crisp freezes well, unbaked. Place crisp ingredients in a freezer- and oven-safe baking dish. Cover with tinfoil and secure with an elastic band to hold streusel topping in place. Freeze in either airtight freezer container or freezer bag. When ready to bake crisp, remove tin foil and bake dessert from frozen state. Crisp may require approximately 8-10 minutes longer baking time. If crisp starts to brown too much before fruit mixture is cooked, loosely tent with tinfoil while crisp finishes baking.
Note 3: This crisp may be made with frozen rhubarb if fresh is unavailable. An additional tablespoon of cornstarch may be required, depending on how much moisture is frozen in and around the rhubarb. Fresh strawberries are recommended. While frozen strawberries could be used, they will release significantly more juices than will fresh ones so additional thickener is likely to be required.
If you have made this recipe and enjoyed it and/or wish to share it with your friends and family, please do so on social media but be sure to share the direct link to this posting from my website.
Connect with My Island Bistro Kitchen on Social Media
Join the Facebook page for My Island Bistro Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/MyIslandBistroKitchen/
Follow “the Bistro” on “X” (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/PEIBistro/
See the drool-worthy gallery of mouth-watering food photos from My Island Bistro Kitchen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peibistro/
Follow “the Bistro” on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.ca/peibistro/ and pin the Pinterest-ready photo found at the end of this post to your favorite Pinterest boards.
Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Ingredients
Streusel Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/8 cup almond flour
- ¾ cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- ½ tsp baking soda
- Pinch salt
- ½ tsp cardamon
- ½ cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
- ¾ cup quick cooking rolled oats
- ¼ cup chopped nuts (e.g., pecans, walnuts, almonds, pistachios) [optional]
Strawberry Rhubarb Base Ingredients:
- 1 lb (454 grams) rhubarb, sliced into ½ - ¾” pieces
- ½ lb (225g) fresh strawberries, hulled, washed, and coarsely chopped
- 1½ tbsp orange juice
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 6½ tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp finely grated orange rind
- ¾ tsp cardamom
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- Pinch salt
Instructions
- Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Grease 1½-quart (1.4 ltr) baking dish.
Method For Streusel Topping:
- In medium-sized bowl, combine flours, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cardamom. Using pastry blender, cut in cold butter until mixture is crumbly. Stir in rolled oats and chopped nuts (if using). Cover mixture and place in refrigerator while preparing the strawberry-rhubarb base.
Method For Strawberry Rhubarb Base:
- Wash and dry rhubarb stalks and cut into pieces about ½” - ¾” thick or so. Place in large bowl. Hull, wash, and dry strawberries and coarsely cut each. Small strawberries may be left whole, if desired. Add to the rhubarb in bowl and sprinkle with orange juice.
- In separate bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch, grated orange rind, spices, and salt. Mix well. Add to the rhubarb and strawberry mixture and toss to coat.
- Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish.
- Sprinkle streusel topping evenly over rhubarb and strawberries.
- Place baking pan on rimmed baking sheet (lined with tin foil for easy clean-up should fruit mixture bubble out).
- Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until topping is crisp and golden tanned, fruit mixture is soft when knife-tested, and juices from the fruit mixture are bubbling up around the edges of the crisp topping. Remove from oven and let the crisp cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.
- Serve plain or with a dollop of whipped cream or favourite vanilla ice cream.
Recipe Notes
Yield: Apx. 6 servings
Copyright My Island Bistro Kitchen
Note 1: This crisp can be divided between six to seven individual baking dishes (apx. 1 cup capacity each) and baked as individual desserts. These will bake about 35-38 minutes.
Note 2: This crisp freezes well, unbaked. Place crisp ingredients in a freezer- and oven-safe baking dish. Cover with tinfoil and secure with an elastic band to hold streusel topping in place. Freeze in either airtight freezer container or freezer bag. When ready to bake crisp, remove tin foil and bake dessert from frozen state. Crisp may require approximately 8-10 minutes longer baking time. If crisp starts to brown too much before fruit mixture is cooked, loosely tent with tinfoil while crisp finishes baking.
Note 3: This crisp may be made with frozen rhubarb if fresh is unavailable. An additional tablespoon of cornstarch may be required, depending on how much moisture is frozen in and around the rhubarb. Fresh strawberries are recommended. While frozen strawberries could be used, they will release significantly more moisture than will fresh ones so additional thickener is likely to be required.
PIN ME TO PINTEREST!
