Blackberry Rhubarb Crisp

I pick blackberries from the school yard and rhubarb from the side yard. I remember to wear long sleeves and long pants to protect myself from the blackberry brambles, but my hair keeps getting tangled up in the thorns. Later I find a picture of my teenaged self picking blackberries with my best pal, both of us wearing overalls with bandanas tied around our heads*. I cut thin stalks of rhubarb from a forgotten plant and free them from their massive leaves. They are red almost all of the way through. I turn them into summertime crisps. I mix and stir the crumb topping with my hands. I bake them in borrowed ramekins and old jelly jars and they spill all over the baking sheet in the oven. We eat them on my brother's birthday with earl grey ice cream on top, after the babies have been put to bed.

Blackberry Rhubarb Crisp
yield 8-10 individual crisps or, 1 9x13 pan 
A few notes on this recipe: If making individual crisps, you'll want heatproof dishes (ramekins, canning jars, etc) that can hold about 6 ounces. The rhubarb gives the filling a wonderful tartness, which is just about perfect with some ice cream on top. I like a fairly equal fruit to crumb topping, so this recipe makes a generous amount. If you don't want to use it all at once it can be frozen for up to 2 weeks. Don't thaw before using, just break up the crumbs and sprinkle them over your dessert before you bake it.

For the Filling

1 1/2 pounds blackberries
3/4 pounds rhubarb, chopped into 1/4''-1/2'' pieces
1 ounce flour
4 1/4 ounces sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest (meyer lemon if available)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Crumb Topping

6 ounces softened butter
4 1/2 ounces rolled oats
4 1/2 ounces whole wheat flour (or sub half all purpose)
4 1/4 ounces brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375º

1. In a large bowl, gently toss the blackberries, chopped rhubarb, flour, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla extract together. Set aside while you prepare the topping.
2. In a medium bowl combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add in the butter and use your hands to work it into the mixture until it holds together in medium clumps.
3. If making individual crisps, divide the filling mixture evenly between 8-10 ramekins, then top with a generous amount of crumb topping. If making 1, 9x13 crisp pour all of the fruit into the dish and evenly sprinkle the crumb over the top.
4. Place the ramekins or baking dish on top of a rimmed baking sheet (to catch any juices) and slide into the oven. Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the the topping is golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream on top.


*No doubt an attempt to channel Angela Chase

Whole Wheat Plum Crumb Bars

I know it's boring to talk about the weather, but here I am, bringing it up again. Living in a place with four distinct seasons forces me to stop and reflect upon what each season brings. Maybe this tendency (along with the grey hair that has started sprouting out of my head) is just another sign that I'm getting older, who's to say for sure? All I know is that this summer, NYC is bringing the heat. It has been a hot, humid summer tempered only by an occasional epic thunderstorm and lots of cold watermelon.



Despite my general dislike of east coast summer temps, I've found a way to ease myself right into the season this year. I find myself in the kitchen most days, weighing flours, cutting butter into even hunks, dropping cubes of ice into a measuring cup of water. I make pie dough and puff pastry and crumbles like this one to house all of the gorgeous summer fruit that I can't stop buying. I make endless, floury messes and clean them up countless times. I turn on the oven when it is far too hot for any sane person to bake. Then, I load my camera with film and try to capture some of this season's essence to remember later in the year when I am complaining about how my toes just won't get warm no matter how many pairs of socks I put on. And if I'm lucky I get to escape the city every once in a while for wide open spaces, hopefully to gather more of summer's bounty.

These perfectly tart crumb bars were baked for just such an occasion, when a group of city kids migrated upstate for the day to drink icy cold beers and make pizzas in a wood fired oven that I had a hand in building. Next time I get up there I am going to do some wood fired baking. Wish me luck!

Whole Wheat Plum Crumb Bars
yield 1 9x13 pan

For the Bottom Crust

6 ounces/170g butter, melted and cooled
3.5 ounces/100g sugar
4.5 ounces/127g all purpose flour
4.5 ounces/127g whole wheat flour
3/4t salt
2t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350º and line a 9x13 baking pan with foil or parchment paper. Lightly grease the inside of the pan.

1. In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add in the melted butter and  vanilla extract. Stir gently until a dough forms.
2. Pat the dough evenly into the prepared pan. Slide the pan into the oven and bake until light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Set aside to cool while you prepare the filling and crumble.

For the Filling
The plums I used for this recipe were quite tart. The amount of sugar listed below sweetened them gently while leaving some of that lovely tartness behind, which was perfect. If you are working with sweet juicy plums, you might want to cut back on the sugar a bit.

1lb plums (I used a combination of red and black plums)
1.75 ounces/50g sugar
1/2t ground cinnamon
1t ground cardamom
2t vanilla extract
.5 ounce/14g flour

1. Pit and roughly chop the plums. Put them in a bowl and add the sugar, spices, vanilla and flour. Toss gently to combine. Pour over the cooled crust.

For the Crumb Topping

6 ounces/170g soft butter
3.5 ounces/100g rolled oats
2.25 ounces/64g all purpose flour
2.25 ounces/64g  whole wheat flour
5 ounces/120g sugar
1/4t baking soda
1/2t salt

Preheat oven to 375º

1. In a large bowl, combine the oats, flours, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add in the butter and use your hands to work it into the mixture until it holds together in medium clumps. Sprinkle it evenly over the plum filling.
2. Slide the bars into the oven and bake until the topping is golden brown and the plums begin to release their juices, 30-40min. Cool completely before slicing

Blueberry Crumb Pie

The East Coast is in for 3 days of 90+ degree weather which means I sure as heck won't be turning the oven on for a few days. I'm glad I baked this pie for the Pie Party yesterday, mostly because blueberry pie always tastes best when you eat it for breakfast the next day, don't you think? I'm also planning on lots green smoothies for breakfast and popsicles for lunch and dinner washed down cold brewed iced coffee to beat the heat. I probably should have filled up the ice trays last night, whoops. 

This pie features my favorite all-butter pie crust, filled with a generously spiced pile of fresh Jersey blueberries and topped with a crispy, nutty crumble. Feel free to substitute your favorite crust if you have one you are attached to. I think having a favorite pie crust is a kitchen milestone to be celebrated, just like summertime and pies.

Blueberry Almond Crumb Pie

For the Crust
makes 2 crusts (you'll only need one crust to make the pie)

This crust comes to you from the talented Brandi Henderson of I made that! and The Pantry at Delancey where she teaches a class called "How to be a Pie Ninja" (among others) and she is not messing around, her recipes are killer. For her crust, Brandi uses a technique called fraissage which creates long sheets of buttery flakes throughout the dough instead of little pockets of butter. Delightful!

12 ounces pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cold, unsalted butter
4-6 ounces ice water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1. Mix the flour and salt together, then pour the whole lot on a large cutting board or countertop.
2. With a bench scraper, cut in half of the butter until it is the size of lima beans, then cut in the other half of the butter until it is the size of nickels. Mix the water and vinegar together.
3. Using your fingers, flick the water on to the butter flour mixture and gently fold it in with your bench scraper. You have added enough water when you can pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it together without it falling apart.
4. Then, get this, you smear the butter into the dough. With the heel of your hand push a section of the dough down and away from you. Congratulations, you have just created a sheet of butter which is going to turn delicious flaky crust. Scrape the sheet off of the board and place it in a bowl to the side. Repeat until you have worked through all of the dough, pushing it down and away from you in sections. Once you've gone through all of the dough gently remove it from the bowl, press it together, then split it in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and form into a disk. Chill the dough for at least one hour before using. I have warm hands, so I always chill my dough overnight before I use it.

For the Filling

24 ounces blueberries
2-4 ounces sugar, depending on the sweetness of your berries
1 ounce cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
zest and juice from one small lemon
pinch salt

Pour all of the ingredients into a large bowl and stir gently to combine

For the Crumb


3 ounces all purpose flour
3 ounces brown sugar
4 ounces soft butter
pinch salt
2 ounces sliced almonds

Mix together the flour, sugar, butter and salt until it resembles large crumbs. Gently mix in the almonds being careful not to break them up.

To Assemble and Bake

Preheat oven to 375º and adjust a rack to the lower third of the oven.

1. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece of the dough into a 12'' circle about 1/8'' thick and place it into a 9'' pie pan and crimp the edges. Place in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the pie.
2. Pour the filling mixture into the prepared crust, then top with the prepared crumb topping.
3. Place the pie on a baking sheet and slide into the oven. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the topping is deep golden brown. Cool completely before serving.