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. 

Gluten Free Plum Torte

One good thing about the end of summer is that it's time for plum torte! The little Italian plums come into season and this amazing dessert can be whipped up in a little over an hour. It's so good. The plums are tart and the torte is buttery and cakey. You can read the torte's history here. I've put this recipe on the blog before, but this time I tried it with gluten free flour. It was my first foray into gluten free baking and I was surprised - it was actually great! (A girl in my office is gluten free and can never eat any of the snacks I bring in so I wanted to make one she could eat.) I wouldn't choose it over regular flour, but it was surprisingly fluffy and nice. 

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).