Strawberry Blueberry Crumble

Yum! This is a delicious and easy summer dessert. We used strawberries and blueberries, but it would be great with any mix of fruit. The crumble topping is delicious and it's so easy because you don't have to make crust - the whole thing takes about an hour start to finish. The baking soda in the crumble is from Smitten Kitchen. It really makes it puff up and get nice and crunchy. Will definitely make this again, maybe in individual ramekins. 

Strawberry Balsamic Pie

I love pie season. Some people think it's in the fall or winter, but for me, summer pies are the best. I love a good lattice-topped berry pie (strawberry rhubarb is my reigning favorite). I've been wanting to try this recipe from Four and Twenty Blackbirds but kept forgetting about it during the short strawberry season. Not this year! I finally remembered, bought a bunch of strawberries from the market, and made this delicious pie. It's so good! Even the drippings that come off the pie onto the cookie sheet taste like wonderful, sophisticated fruit roll ups. Strawberries and balsamic go so well together, and the little tiny bit of pepper is not obvious but gives the mix a tiny kick. I used my new favorite cornmeal crust, but you can use regular crust, too (or store-bought if you want - I recommend Trader Joe's). 

Rhubarb Galette

I had a little pie crust left over from making strawberry rhubarb pie last weekend, so I made a little galette. Galettes are great when you either don't have a pie tin/plate, you only have a little pie dough, or you want something a little more rustic You also get a little extra crust, which is always tasty. This one was great. It's a little sweet, tart, and the dough with the cornmeal makes such a flaky crust. I served it with some fresh strawberry ice cream and is was an amazing, summery dessert. 

Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream

I've never been a huge strawberry ice cream person. I usually go for mint chocolate chip or Oreo or something with chocolate in it before this, but wow, it make a huge difference to make it yourself with in-season strawberries. Did anyone else see this ice cream base recipe in the Times? I couldn't wait to try it. The strawberry ice cream is fresh and tart and delicious, and Jamie remarked on how fruity it was. Try it before they're gone!!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

This is my favorite pie (as documented here). We had tons of rhubarb in the garden last weekend and my mom picked up some farm stand strawberries, so of course, we had to make a pie. I used the all butter crust recipe from Four and Twenty Blackbirds, but I realized part way through making the dough that we didn't have enough flour - we were short half a cup. We did have cornmeal. I subbed in cornmeal for the missing flour and it was great! It added this nice texture and extra crisp to the dough. I also subbed balsamic vinegar for the usual lemon juice which was a great, subtle difference. If there are still strawberries near you (I just snagged some this morning at the Union Square market) I suggest making this ASAP, and maybe making three.

Ingredients:

Crust

2 cups flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

3 tsp sugar

2 sticks cold butter, cut into 1/2" pieces

1 cup cold water

Strawberry Shortcake

Nothing really tells me it's summer quite like eating strawberry shortcake for dessert. I've always just made what my mom makes - the classic Bisquick recipe. The whole thing takes about 20 minutes and it's so sweet and tart from the strawberries and the syrup from the mixture soaks into the bottom piece of shortcake. Yum! (I actually just ate another helping for breakfast! I'm stuffed, but couldn't resist.) Usually I would use homemade whipped cream, but we already had ReadyWhip so I just went with it.

Serves 6
Ingredients:
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/3 cup Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
3 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp melted butter
whipped cream

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

When rhubarb comes into season I immediately crave strawberry rhubarb pie. It's such a great blend of sweet and sour and I'd say it's my favorite pie, hands down. Especially when served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's not terribly difficult to make - especially if you buy frozen pie crust. (I recommend the Trader Joe's variety if it's available.) Just putting this up makes me want to make another tonight!

Ingredients:
Pie crust (frozen of homemade)
1 pound fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 pound fresh strawberries, cut into halves or quarters
3 tablespoons corn starch
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4-1/2 tsp freshly grated orange peel
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Mix rhubarb, strawberries, corn starch, sugar, cinnamon, lemon, and orange peel in a bowl.

 

Pour into pie crust (if it's homemade, first put the pie crust down in a pie in and trim the edges). Cut remaining pie crust into strips and lay across the top of the filling in a lattice.  Dot the pie with the butter and sprinkle sugar on top of the strips. 

Place the pie on a cookie sheet and then into the oven (it tends to drip a bit). After 35 minutes, if the crusts are burning, cover them with tin foil. Let it bake another 10 minutes or until the middle is pretty set. Let cool a little and serve it up with vanilla ice cream!