It's berry season now and this means affordable berries for all. A friend of mine who has a farm sent me some strawberries and asked me to do something different with the fruit.
Of course my first thought was a salad but, that's like the easiest go to option. Second thought was jam.....but again, everyone makes jam. So I went into the depths of the internet to see what other exciting things people do... I decided to make a crumble bar. Simple enough and needing very few items
I must say, I have found one dessert that's not overly sweet that I love. Serve it cool with a cuppa or serve it warm with some vanilla ice cream or just have it as is with no extras.
Serves 9
For the crumble
250 grams all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
175 grams unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
100 grams soft brown sugar
5 ml vanilla extract
1 large egg
For the strawberry topping
5ml vanilla extract
2 cups chopped strawberries
40 grams icing sugar
1 tbs corn flour
Special Equipment
Brownie tray
Pre heat your oven to 180 °C (160 °C for fan assisted ovens) and line your baking tray with baking parchment
In one bowl, put the berries, vanilla, icing sugar and corn flour. Mix gently with a spoon and set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients for crumble. Add the cubes of butter and using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it forms a bread crumb consistency. Beat your egg and vanilla extract separately and then add this to the crumb mix gradually. Use your fingers to gently mix in the eggs making sure not to overwork the mix or let it turn into a stiff dough.
Once the egg is mixed in, the crumble mix should be slightly sticky. Pour half the mix into the baking tray and use your fingers to evenly spread out the mix and push it down to form a thick crust.
Pour the berries evenly over the crust and top with the remainder of the crumble mix.
Place the tray into the middle oven shelf and let it bake for 35 to 40 minutes (make sure to keep checking as each oven is different). Once the top crumble is golden brown, take the tray out of the oven and let it cool.
Once cooled, lift the pastry using the parchment onto a board and cut into 9 equal squares and enjoy.