TWD: Strawberry-Rhubarb Double Crisp

Fruit crisps have always been one of my favorite desserts.  I love their rustic simplicity - a layer of fruit topped with a brown sugar/oat mixture all baked until hot and bubbling.  It's kind of like pie, only better, because I don't have to make pie crust and fuss with rolling it out :)  I usually gravitate toward apple crisp but I was pretty excited about our recipe for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie, which featured strawberries and rhubarb.  Last spring I tried rhubarb for the first time and while it's a bit too tart for me on its own, it's beyond delicious when paired with strawberries.  Leave it to Dorie to find a way to improve the simple crisp without complicating it - this recipe calls for pressing half of the brown sugar/oat mixture into the bottom of the pan before adding the fruit and sprinkling the rest on top - genius!    



I quartered the recipe (well, mostly - I eyeballed more than one ingredient for the fruit layer) and in addition to the ramekin pictured, I had enough filling for a second smaller ramekin.  There wasn't quite enough of the crust/topping mixture for both ramekins - the smaller one got a sprinkling on top only.  As usual, I also skipped the nuts.  The full recipe had a baking time of about 60 minutes, but my minis only needed 20.  Fruit crisps absolutely have to be served with ice cream in my opinion and I went with a scoop of vanilla bean on these. 



These crisps were perfect in my book; I wouldn't change a thing.  They're equally great for dessert or breakfast.  I only wish I'd made the full recipe and stashed a bit in my freezer for another time.  Many thanks to Sarah of Teapots and Cakestands who hosted this week.  You can find the recipe for the crisp on her blog, or on pages 420-421 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.