A delicious strawberry crumble recipe topped with a delicious almond and oat crumble topping. Perfect served warm with ice cream, or cold out of the fridge.
It’s not quite strawberry season yet, at least not around these parts, but there are times when I find myself food shopping and I can’t help but stare at the joyous, organic, red berries that constantly summon my attention with several winks and a price tag that reads “On SALE!” Sales are my weakness. And so are gorgeous-looking strawberries. And so is this strawberry crumble recipe.
Strawberries are possibly one of my most favorite fruit. Although they are available practically all-year-long in supermarkets and grocery stores across the country, when they’re not in season–usually–they’re practically good for nothing. They’re sometimes vile- both crunchy and sour, and lack in any strawberry flavor (that’s where this strawberry crumble comes in!). Some will disagree about my last statement but I did say usually; there are a handful of companies that do have great tasting organic strawberries year-round.
When I do find myself picking up a package or two of these glorious red berries that are lacking in the taste department, I most-often find myself baking them. Be it in a strawberry crumble or otherwise. And during strawberry season, rarely am I every interested in baking the marvelously sweet strawberries that I pick up from the farmers’ market– I’d much rather munch on them, toss them into a summery salad, or make jam to preserve their magnificent taste for when I need a burst of strawberry goodness during the dreary winter months.
Although this crumble is made with abominable, store-brought strawberries, the berry flavors are enhanced as they bake under a blanket of ground almonds, oats, and a buttery crumble topping freckled with poppy seeds. You may think that the berries might turn out as mushy, red-tinged sludge, but they don’t. Instead, they are baked into succulent, strawberrily-intense explosions of flavor.
When the strawberry crumble makes its way out of the oven, I try to amass all of my patience and let it cool on the counter for a few minutes before it makes its way onto the table, or into the refrigerator, where I let the flavors mingle for an hour or two. If my patience is nowhere to be found, I serve it straight out of the oven with a scoop or two of homemade vanilla gelato, and hope that the cool ice cream prevents mouth-burning.
When there’s some leftover, I spoon the rustic crumble into Weck jars and keep them in the refrigerator for midnight-snacking. Oh, how I adore this crumble.
Strawberry Crumble
If you are making this recipe at the peak of strawberry season, I’d cut down on the vanilla sugar by a lot, depending on how sweet the berries are on their own.
If you don’t have any vanilla sugar on hand, use granulated sugar or natural cane sugar and a healthy splash (about 1 tablespoon) of vanilla extract when covering the strawberries in almond meal.
Serving this with soft, billowy peaks of whipped cream, or a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream is necessary when it’s served straight out of the oven. When served cool from the fridge, a glug of heavy (double) cream does the trick.
If you are lucky enough to have leftover crumble, spoon the remainder into small jars and place the jars in the refrigerator for midnight-snacking over the next couple of nights (if you can resist the urge to indulge).
Special Equipment: This recipe requires 1 ovenproof pie dish (or cake pan) approx. 8-in by 2-in deep (about 1 1/4 quarts capacity). For the photos in the post, I decided to use a vintage pyrex baking dish that snugly housed all of the strawberries; the baking time was still the same, so if you have the same dish, feel free to use it.
Ingredients
- 1 lb (about 500g) strawberries, hulled
- 3 ½ tablespoons / 50 g vanilla sugar
- ¼ cup / 25g almond meal or almond flour
Crumble Topping:
- ⅔ cup / 110g unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ tablespoon / 4 g poppy seeds (optional)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
- 5 tablespoons / 75g unsalted butter, Cubed
- 1 cup / 120 g rolled oats
- ¼ cup / 18 g sliced almonds
- 5 tablespoons/ 75 Turbinado sugar or Demerara sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F / 200C / Gas 6.
- Place the hulled strawberries into your baking dish and sprinkle on the vanilla sugar and almond meal (I simply took ¼ cup of almonds and processed them in the food processor until they looked like sand). Give the dish a jiggle to mix the ingredients a bit.
Crumble Topping:
- Place the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt, in a mixing bowl and rub the butter into the flour mixture with your finger tips, until the mixture resembles pale oatmeal.
- With a fork, stir in the rolled oats, sliced almonds, and turbinado sugar.
Assemble the Crumble:
- Tip the Crumble topping over the strawberry filling, being sure to evenly cover the strawberries.
- Set the dish on a cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes. When the crumble is ready, the topping will be a slight bronze color and will be blushing with pinkish-red juices at the edges.
- Serve warm or cold with generous scoops of vanilla ice cream, a heaping dollop of softly whipped cream, or a generous glug of cold heavy (double) cream.
Notes
Adapted from: Nigella Kitchen by Nigella Lawson
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 385Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 253mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 5gSugar: 25gProtein: 7g
44 Comments
Sonia@7spice
April 5, 2011 at 1:33 amI would love this straight out of oven with big dollop of heavenly vanilla ice-cream! Ah! I can imagine that taste. Poppy seeds in this? new to me. Your preparation pics here are just lovely!
kamran
April 5, 2011 at 12:06 pmSonia- thanks so much, the poppy seeds are optional, but I love their look in this. You can take them out, though. :)
chicu
April 5, 2011 at 4:28 am‘succulent, strawberrily-intense explosions of flavor.’
where’s a cold shower when you need one?
;)
shweta j
April 5, 2011 at 5:22 amthis looks so yummy. Unfortunately strawberries are not so easily over here. Can i use other fruits for making crumble & would you suggest some ? Thanks a lot : )
kamran
April 5, 2011 at 12:11 pmshweta j – I’m sure that you could. You can use rhubarb, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, apples, plums, pears… The possibilities are endless with crumbles. I’d adjust the sugar as needed…
Rochelle
April 5, 2011 at 9:39 amThis looks and sounds fantastic! The photos are literally making my mouth water and I can just about smell the strawberry crumble from the description.
Brian @ A Thought For Food
April 5, 2011 at 10:09 amYou are making me drool all over my keyboard. Not too worry, it’s well worth the mess.
Helene
April 5, 2011 at 10:12 amIt’s one of my fav fruit. I usually make crumble with other fruits but should try with strawberries. Love the pics!
kamran
April 5, 2011 at 12:12 pmHelene – I love crumbles with just about anything, but strawberries are just so… mesmerizing.
Mika
April 5, 2011 at 10:49 amI cooked strawberries once…
At first I felt so guilty for ruining them but they were so yummy and delicious…I’ve never thought cooked strawberries could be so delicious…I love the recipe…
kamran
April 5, 2011 at 12:14 pmMika- thanks! Have you tried roasted strawberries? They’re totally a religious experience!
Joanne
April 5, 2011 at 12:51 pmI caved and bought strawberries the other day also. I had to! I could smell them as soon as I walked into the supermarket…and that was the end of all my resolve. They were actually quite delicious. But maybe I’ve also just not had strawberries in so long that I was semi-delusional. Who knows. Next box is going into a crumble because this looks damn delicious!
Maris (In Good Taste)
April 5, 2011 at 4:45 pmI am excited for strawberry season also. Your crumble looks fabulous!I a happy I found your blog!
christelle is flabbergasting
April 5, 2011 at 6:34 pmholy miam! Me waaaaant! And congrats to you and the Kitchen Generation for BlogHer Food! ^___^
jaclyn
April 5, 2011 at 7:26 pmthis looks divine! luckily, i live in florida, where it’s peak strawberry season right now. definitely need to make this soon!
Miriam
April 5, 2011 at 8:08 pmI just had strawberries for breakfast this morning, I know what you mean about how flirtacious they can be :). Great recipe for a treat!
Mika
April 6, 2011 at 1:15 amRoasted strawberries!? This sounds totally new to me…I googled it and the idea is fantastic!!! Do you have a trusty recipe, so I can use yours?
kamran
April 6, 2011 at 11:25 pmI will post a recipe for it. Promise! :)
SproutsOfSpring
April 6, 2011 at 8:53 amI love strawberry ice-cream, strawberry jam and love to add them to my fruit smoothies!
SproutsOfSpring
April 6, 2011 at 8:54 amoh i just saw rest of your post and the recipe. it looks awesome
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme)
April 6, 2011 at 3:25 pmI love crumbles! Probably my favorite dessert. I personally love the combination of apples and raspberries in mine. Delish!
Beautiful pictures, as always!
Kate at katealicecookbook.com
April 7, 2011 at 12:38 amLovely! I know that feeling of being drawn to the burst of red at the shops. We’re just clinging onto summer here in Australia-went blackberry picking the other day. I have not tried strawberries in a crumble, but I like the idea-it’s on the menu soon :)
Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction
April 7, 2011 at 3:37 pmThis looks pretty amazing… I am saving this one for strawberry season. Lovely!
Holden
April 7, 2011 at 5:14 pmthose looks so yummy, your photos are gorgeous as usual! :) its so inspiring to me how successful your writing is, so props from a fellow young cook :)
Kate from Scratch
April 8, 2011 at 12:21 pmThis looks divine! Thanks for sharing. :)
cailin
April 8, 2011 at 8:34 pmi’ve just discovered your blog thanks to elissa at 17 and baking and i have to say, you guys are amazing. so inspiring! i’m 18, and heading into culinary school next january. i also have a love for writing (though i’ve never applied it to food), so all involved in “the kitchen generation” are so inspirational to me. your photography is beautiful, and your recipes seem quite down to earth despite the label of gourmet (which is a good thing!!!). thanks for the wonderful reading! (:
p.s. — i also appreciate the fact that you have an entire section dedicated to chocolate <3 haha (:
kamran
April 8, 2011 at 10:53 pmWelcome, Cailin! So glad to be an inspiration to others our age!
--kyleen--
April 10, 2011 at 11:22 pmI found out about your blog recently and I have to say it’s awesome. Your recipes and pictures are so elegant yet simple.
Mhmm vanilla gelato… :D
Charlottesville Sybarite
April 11, 2011 at 7:54 amMMmmm…and we are just weeks away from perfectly delightful strawberries in their peak sweetness, can’t wait!
Meredith
April 11, 2011 at 3:35 pmNow, where’s the Vanilla Gelato recipe?? :o)
kamran
April 14, 2011 at 9:17 amMeredith- Coming soon… Promise! :)
Allison
April 12, 2011 at 4:10 pmOh this crumble looks so yummy. I love the idea of having poppy seeds in the topping. Can’t wait to make it!
Katie
April 14, 2011 at 9:11 amSounds yummy. Especially with the homemade vanilla gelatto. Is there a recipe for this please?
Kankana
April 15, 2011 at 11:29 pmI have a berry weakness and don’t even get me started on SALE weakness :D SO, you can imagine how much I am enjoying your dish .. i can almost taste it. I have access to fresh sweet strawberry .. will have to try this soon. :)
Patricia Scarpin
May 8, 2011 at 7:08 amOne of my favorite crumbles – looks delicious! I love strawberries in just about anything to be honest. :D
Hannah@ Bake Five
June 29, 2011 at 4:27 amoh how i adore that crumble. (:
Najaah Namdarkhan
September 19, 2011 at 12:55 pmHi Kamran, ur blog was my exciting discovery of the week!, every food is described in such mouth watering details..can’t wait to try out the recipes.
najaah. from france :)
Sandyann64
March 18, 2012 at 2:08 pmHeaven! Easy to make and cooking does something to not quite ripe strawberries, giving them a taste that’s out of this world. Fabulous straight out of the oven with lashings of double cream as advised by Nigella!
grace
May 1, 2012 at 1:37 pmyou have totally made my May! Was looking for a recipe for my strawberries and I totally found it! thanks
Rebekah
May 2, 2012 at 7:29 amThanks for the inspiration! I used about 6 cups mixed strawberries and chopped peaches. For sweetener I put 2 tablespoons agave in with the fruit, then 1/4 cup demerara and 2 tablespoons agave in the topping. Oh, and since I am gluten-free I just used oat flour. It was fabulous… very well received at my book club last night. Thank you again!
Rebekah
May 2, 2012 at 7:30 amp.s. I was using partially frozen fruit so it took longer to bake.
cinzia
May 19, 2012 at 5:06 amottimo dolce veloce, che ispira anche i palati più prestigiosi.
Ruth
October 8, 2015 at 3:32 amCan i make this without the ground almond?
U
October 27, 2023 at 5:01 amThis strawberry crumble recipe sounds irresistible! I love how the author’s weakness for strawberries and sales shines through in their writing. I can almost taste the sweet, juicy strawberries paired with the almond and oat crumble topping. Perfect for any time of year! 😋🍓👌