Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

man o' man. if i would have known that making a fruit crumble were so simple, i would've been making these a long time ago.

however, it was special BOOF buddy, cr's "not birthday birthday" and i knew how much he loved rhubarb so i thought i would delve into the wonderful world of a fruit crumble. at a friend's party a few months back, i had endulged in a strawberry rhubarb crumble and was really taken back by the flavor because i had never had rhubarb before, so i was excited and nervous to take to this new ingredient.

the roughest part about making this dish was finding rhubarb. rhubarb is extremely seasonal peaking in the spring and a bit into the summer, and it is really almost nearly impossible to find it in stores (farmer's markets are your best bet). I had to call about 4 or 5 grocery stores to find one that carried it but I did! WIN.

thanks to Deb of Smitten Kitchen, I found this most perfectly easy Strawberry Rhubarb crumble recipe and made a couple of additions just for a little added flavor.

Ingredients

For the Topping:

1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons Demerara sugar (or turbinado sugar aka Sugar in the Raw-- that's what i used...maybe 6 packets?
Zest of one lemon
1/4 pound (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

1 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 quart strawberries plus a few extras, hulled, quartered
Juice of one lemon
1/2 cup sugar
3 to 4 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt

Directions

1) Heat oven to 375.

2) Prepare topping: Combine flour, baking powder, sugar(s), lemon zest, and melted butter until large clumps begin to form.

3) Refrigerate until needed.

4) Prepare filling: Toss chopped rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, cornstarch and a pinch of salt in a 9-inch deep dish plate.

5) Remove topping from fridge and cover fruit thickly and evenly with the topping.

6) My addition: dust top with brown sugar and cinnamon- i think this added a nice additional flavor to the dish.

7) Bake until topping is golden brown in certain places and the fruit is bubbling underneath (40-50 minutes).

Recipe adapted from: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/05/crumbling-crisp-convictions/