Delicious, Hold-Their-Shape Sugar Cookies (with Raspberry Dust)

You guys, can we still be friends if I only take photos with my phone? I hope so. Blogging time is short right now, but still have a lot of requests for recipes and love being able to access my favorites here, so quick posts it is. 

I have a tried and true sugar cookie recipe here but love trying new ones. This one from Nicole Gerulat did not disappoint. She's my favorite photographer and perfect taste. Check out her site and instagram feed sometime- so much inspiration! These buttery, chewy cookies have no chemical leaveners (baking soda or powder) so they hold their shape beautifully- perfect for complex cookie cutters.

The topping on these cookies isn't a sprinkle or glitter but raspberry dust! Trader Joe's Freeze Dried Raspberries, crushed and then sprinkled right on top. I love the pop of beautiful color and the tart taste perfectly compliments the buttery cookie and sweet frosting. Nicole uses a delicious strawberries and cream frosting. I made my basic favorite whipped cream cheese frosting and added a few teaspoons of frozen berries pushed through a sieve. The subtle pink color and berry flavor was lovely.

One last word on sugar cookies- with such simple flavors, quality ingredients make a world of difference. Spring for real butter, good vanilla (I love Costco's), etc. Your tasters will thank you! I also like to mix things add by adding in citrus zest to the dough or flavorings to the icing.

This cookie recipes works well for royal icing, as well. Let the cookie cool completely and frost as desired (you can see my method here. I am far from a pro but they come out cute enough for my kids- the Queen was so excited about these dresses that I had I hard time keeping her cute little two-year-old hands off them.) Check out this instagram feed if you want some really beautiful cookie inspiration! For now I settle for delicious and pretty, if not perfect!

{Friendly Frankenstein's for Baby Strawberry's school Halloween Party, imperfectly iced in the middle of the night to meet a tight deadline, no perfect cookies here!- with Wilton Candy Eyeballs. My kids LOVE these.}

Hold-Their-Shape Sugar Cookies 

AnneStrawberry.com

adapted from NicolePhoto.com

2 1/4 Cups (4 1/2 sticks) Butter, softened to room temperature

2 1/4 Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
6 cups flour

Preheat the oven to 325ºF. 

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until well-combined and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Mix in vanilla. Add salt then add flour a few cups at a time, mixing very gently and slowly until it's just barely combined. Overmixing will result in a tough cookie.

Divide dough into two batches. On a floured surface, using a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/2” thick. Cut with a cookie cutter. Place cookies 2” apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking sheet (silpat). 

Bake at 325ºF for 10-13 minutes, depending on size of cookie, until thoroughly cooked, but not browned. Let cool completely then frost as desired. These cookies keep and freeze very well.

Lindt White Chocolate Strawberries and Cream Frosting

A few weeks ago Lindt Chocolate asked if I wanted to try some of their new Classic Recipe Strawberries and Creme bars. Perfect! Yes! I got to work thinking about what I should make with it and decided it would make delicious frosting.  I topped each cupcake with a little piece of the chocolate bar as a garnish. I found this cute little chalkboard bunting printable from Simpleklassichome.com (see the pin here) to fancy them up for my friend's birthday. I just printed it out, cut and glued onto some baker's twine. This is way fancy for me (and only took about 10 minutes).

I made a modified version of my favorite frosting and poured in the melted chocolate bar and gave it a quick mix before piping it out on devils food cupcakes.

I also brushed the tops of the cupcakes with a little raspberry Torani strawberry syrup to reinforce the berry flavor and keep them moist. They're great for making homemade Italian sodas or fancy lemonade. The salted caramel is yummy in hot chocolate too! They are cheap and so fun at Smart at Final locally or available on Amazon of course. This isn't a necessary step but it's quick and fun for Baby Strawberry to help with and adds a little more depth of flavor.

I loved how this chocolate had little pieces of strawberries in it that made the frosting really pretty with little bits of pink mixed in. It was delicious and a fun variant from my normal frosting I use for everything.

Lindt Strawberries and Creme White Chocolate Frosting
from Anne Strawberry
{printable recipe here}

4.2 ounces (one bar) of Lindt Strawberries and Creme Chocolate
1/2 C. butter, barely softened (one stick)
6 cups of powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency, this is a baseline. I usually use most of a standard two pound bag)
1 T. meringue powder
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
dash of salt

Chop up the chocolate and melt in the microwave on low for about 30 seconds. Stir and repeat until smooth.

In a mixer with the whisk attachment, blend the butter until light and fluffy. Add about two cups of powdered sugar, the meringue powder, and mix until combined. Add in the vanilla, sour cream, and salt and mix. After it's all smooth and combined, mix in the melted chocolate. Mix in powdered sugar on low speed until desired consistency is reached (I like thicker frosting for decorating, especially when it's so hot!)

The meringue powder will help set the frosting after it dries so it holds its shape. It's not necessary but makes for a much better final product. You can find it in the cake decorating section at Walmart, Michael's, JoAnn, or Hobby Lobby (or on Amazon!)

Pipe out onto your favorite chocolate cupcake and enjoy. I use an oversized pastry bag and tip like this to make them cute in a hurry.

Easy Devils Food Cupcakes
from Anne Strawberry

1 cup sour cream (reduced fat is fine)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 box Devils Food chocolate cake mix (I recommend Betty Crocker)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Combine all ingredients in stand mixer and beat for two minutes until combined. Using a medium cookie/ ice cream scoop, scoop into 24 paper-cup lined muffin tins.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until cupcakes spring back slightly when touched and a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool on racks and frost once completely cooled.


disclosure: Lindt sent me a couple of chocolate bars but the opinions and info are my own.

Peppered Walnut Salad

Today I'm sharing my favorite salad recipe... again. This one comes from my genius cousin who can take regular produce and turn it into salads women moan over. I've had a couple friends ask for this recipe so I am bumping it back up and including the post as well because when I posted this last (the same week in April a couple of years ago) my feelings were exactly the same as they are today. With berry season upon us it's the perfect time to try the salad. You can be flexible on the specifics- berries, types of nuts (my mom makes it with sunflower seeds since my sister-in-law is allergic to walnuts) but the crunchy, peppery nuts, creamy, salty cheese and hint of sweet from the fruit makes for a really amazing flavor combination. Let me know how you like it!

{printable recipe here}
The heat is coming. I'm sure some of you are still in "winter" mode but around here it's already getting hot. Some days I feel like it's time to turn on the air conditioning but I just "can't want to" as we like to say around here. Hopefully spring will hold on for a couple more weeks but even if it doesn't this light, flavorful salad will hit the spot. It's fresh, delicious, and features so many wonderful flavors- peppered candied walnuts, feta, craisins or dried blueberries {fresh are great here too!}, and a garlic and parsley dressing. I've never met a woman who didn't love this salad (as for the men, sometimes they just don't know a good thing when they taste it!)

One note about the feta- the real deal will really set this salad over the top. Peter from Kalofagas (my favorite Greek cooking blog) recommended the Dodoni brand from Costco. I haven't been able to find that, but I love the authentic Greek Feta from Trader Joes. It comes in a white and blue box and is soaked in brine so it stays fresh. It's even made in Greece and is the only kind my brother, who lived in Greece, likes.

Peppered Walnut Salad

{printable recipe here}
From Wendy Jensen, my fabulous cousin who consistently makes the best salads. Thanks for sharing!

Nuts:

1 cup chopped walnuts

3 Tbsp. butter

½ cup sugar

2 tsp. black pepper

Toast walnuts in butter on low for 5 minutes. Combine sugar and pepper and coat hot nuts. Set aside to cool.

Dressing:

2 tsp. sugar

2 cloves peeled garlic

1 tsp. Dried oregano

½ c. diced red onion

½ tsp. salt

1 c. fresh parsley

½ c. red wine vinegar

1 c. canola oil

Blend and refrigerate in a container with a non metal lid (I like to use an old peanut butter jar)

Dressing keeps for a little under a week. I usually throw it out when the parsley loses it's bright green color.

Salad:

1 large head dark green Romaine lettuce, cleaned and chopped

¼ c. crumbled feta cheese

¼ c. craisins or dried blueberries

Add nuts and a 1/4 cup of dressing. Toss and serve immediately.

Happy Fourth!

Palmiers and a TriColore Tart

Fresh Berry Pie (add Blueberry this time around)

Dorie Greenspan's Apple Pie (with a to die for crust)

Barefoot Contessa's Apple Turnovers

Berry Shortcake

Red Velvet Cupcakes in a Jar

I hope you're having a great start to the holiday weekend! We are going to have a little 'staycation' ourselves and I'm super excited. Strawberries are $0.77/pound again at Sprouts and the Fourth of the July is the perfect excuse to make any of these bright and festive desserts. We don't have any big traditions besides seeing a movie and going swimming, but I'm thinking I should get working on that (and strawberries should really be involved, or peaches, or maybe watermelon? I love that part of summer!) Do you have any awesome Fourth of July traditions? Speak up!

No Bake Graham Cracker Cake

{printable recipe here}
I know it's Tuesday and I should have made Dorie's sour cream cake cookies (they look a little like whoopie pies to me) but it's just SO hot. I've only had my oven on once in the last week- I think that's some sort of record for me. I did make this graham cracker 'cake' of sorts for a family party. Strawberries were on sale at Sprouts for 77 cents a pound and a bought a whole flat for making jam. We ended up eating them instead (thank goodness my mom was responsible enough to make some jam and share!) and when it was time to make dessert for the party I instantly thought of strawberry shortcake. I pulled out a few cook books, looking for a recipe to match my ingredients and found the inspiration for this dessert instead from the Lion House Bakery.

The original recipe calls for instant pudding mixed with Cool Whip, layered up with graham crackers, and topped with pie filling. I'll be honest- Cool Whip totally creeps me out. Since I was going pretty semihomemade anyways, I made my own vanilla pudding (my slightly-lightened version of Dorie's pastry cream) and whipped cream. I combined those and layered it with the graham crackers and served it with strawberries. It was cool, smooth, and delicious and the next day it was even better- the crackers had softened and the final product was almost cake like, tasting of vanilla, cream, and strawberries (how bad can that be, right?) The best part is that the oven didn't have to heat my little house at all and this recipe is perfectly adaptable. You could use boxed pudding, try out chocolate, top it with whatever fruit's in season, and even use Cool Whip, you know, if you wanted. I'm sorry the cake is hard to see in the picture, but sometimes (you know, as often as I can), I put too many strawberries on top of things. And Baby Strawberry was yelling "More more more!" while I tried to snap a quick picture!

PS Amazon is offered $2 in free MP3 credit through the 30th- just enter CLOUDMP3 on this page and then check out their selection of $0.69 MP3's- this was a good excuse to get few chick songs myself!

Anne Strawberry's No Bake Graham Cracker 'Cake'
inspired by The Lion House Bakery
{printable recipe here}

1 pounds of strawberries
1/3- 1/2 cup powdered sugar, to taste
2 cups slightly-lightened vanilla pastry cream (or 1 small box instant pudding, prepared)- see recipe below
2 cups whipped cream (or Cool Whip, if you don't have weird food hang ups like I do)
1 box (three sleeves) HoneyMaid Graham Crackers (14.4 ounces)

Wash the strawberries and cut the tops off. Select the prettiest of the berries (about half) and slice from top to bottom (you could use this great tool here). Mash the rest of the strawberries with powdered sugar to desired sweetness and gently stir in strawberry slices. Refridgerate and save for garnish.

Gently fold together the pastry cream and whipped cream in a medium bowl. In a baking dish (I used a medium Pyrex, about 7 x 11, but this is flexible) lay out a layer of graham crackers. The amount will vary with the size of the dish you use, but I needed almost a whole sleeve per layer. Don't worry if some are broken- just patch them together to make the neatest layer you can and it will all meld together later.

Top graham crackers with 1/2 of the cream and spread it evenly using an off-set spatula. Add another layer of graham crackers. Top with the rest of the cream, spread it out, and top with the last of the graham crackers.

Refrigerate for 3-12 hours (I think the best timing would be to assemble in the morning if you want to serve with dinner, but you can make the cream and everything ahead of time to go with your schedule since layering everything will only take a couple minutes). Slice and serve topped with generous portions of fruit topping and enjoy your cool dessert (and cool kitchen!)

"Slightly Lighted" Pastry Cream
adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan

2 1/2 cups 2% milk
4 large egg yolks
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature
Seeds from one vanilla bean (optional)

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk-- this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are full incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold or, if you want to cool it quickly, carefully set the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and refrigerate, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.

Whipped Cream Recipe
See Martha's for a detailed description how to make your own whipped cream using heavy cream if you haven't done it before (I would just tell you to dump it in the mixer, add a few shakes of powdered sugar and a little vanilla, and mix on high till it's pretty and delicious!)

TWD- Strawberry Apple Double Crisp

{printable recipe here}
My husband, Mr. Carbohydrate himself, loves fruit crisp in any variety so I knew this week's Tuesdays with Dorie treat, Strawberry Rhubarb Double Crisp would be a hit. Of course I've never made anything with Rhubarb (am I the only one?) and there's none at the store- so I subbed in an easy favorite- apples. They're cheap, delicious, and easy to prepare using my favorite apple slicer and peeler. Strawberries are barely in season and still way too much money so I used some that I had sliced and frozen last summer instead of fresh.

Then I catered to the needs of the group- no nuts, no ginger (fine, that was my doing), and extra cinnamon. A little less sugar in the filling, a little extra citrus, and this crisp was the real deal- even if it was nothing at all like Dorie intended.You could easily sub in different fruit (maybe cran apple next time?) and spices and the end product will be great- you know, butter, sugar, fruit, how bad can that be? Just don't forget the ice cream and come back tomorrow for the Wednesday Want! You can see my loosely based version of the recipe below or the real deal from Sarah here.

Anne Strawberry Apple Double Crisp
{printable recipe here}
adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan

For the Filling:
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
3 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced (about 1 pound)- frozen is fine too
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 medium apples (pink lady, granny smith, something crisp)
1/2 teaspoon orange zest
zest of half an orange (about a quarter cup)

For the Crisp:
1 cup flour
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 cup oats
pinch of salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 350. Set a baking dish (I used a medium rectangular pyrex, something around 9 x 9 or 7 x 11) on top of a baking sheet.

Stir together the water and cornstarch and set aside to dissolve. In a medium saucepan, combine the strawberries and sugar. Using a fork, wooden spoon, or potato masher, cook the strawberries over medium heat, while stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and bring it back to a boil. Cook for 2 or 3 minutes until the filling is thick and turns clear. Stir in the vanilla and set aside while you prepare the apples.

Peel and slice the apples into halved, 1/2 inch thick wedges. Toss with orange zest and juice and set aside.

To prepare the crisp- combine the flour, sugar, oats, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl and blend with your fingers. Pour over the melted butter and gently combine ingredients with a fork.

Put half the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and pat down to make a crust. Pour in the apples and pour over the strawberry filling. Smooth the jam and evenly sprinkle over the rest of the crumb mixture. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until slightly browned, bubbly, and fragrant. Allow to cool for five or ten minutes and serve warm with ice cream.

TWD- Blueberry Banana Cream Pie

It's a new year! I know everyone is in the middle of resolutions and things but why not start with a chocolate cookie, right? This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is a spicy, chocolaty cookie- midnight crackles to celebrate the new year and TWD's three year anniversary (I can't believe how the time flies!). I modified the recipe and wrapped the dough around mint three musketeers (Target Christmas clearance!) But obviously, you aren't looking at chocolate cookies, since I forgot to grab the pics from my mom's camera and my brother couldn't figure out how to get the pictures emailed to me for some reason. Card reader drama he claims, but I love my card reader, and my mom's, since we bought it too. Whatever the case, my cookie pictures are in limbo for tonight!)

So we have pie instead. I made a whole bunch of pie crusts for a Christmas party and while my kitchen was covered in flour and butter I made a few extra to freeze- pretty much no more effort and a lot of benefits. We had ripe bananas, ready to go blueberries, and whipped cream waiting to be used, so banana cream pie was on the menu. After I baked up the crust I layered in bananas, pastry cream (no cinnamon, per my mom's request), blueberries, bananas, pastry cream, and whipped cream on top for good measure. My family gets a lot of baked goods and sometimes they shrug off totally yummy things, so I was prepared for that response but instead I had two big guys vying for the last slice of pie (my tall man won out, with the husband claim, but my brother said I owed him a pie for all his babysitting). The pie was a hit- even with teething Baby Strawberry.


See the full recipe and a sweet post on the TWD site (the actual cookies) or buy the book (it's a great investment, but I'll be honest, it might make you need to invest in some new jeans too!) As for the banana cream pie, I looked for the recipe on my blog and found it at the first of January 2009- apparently it's proper new years food (although since it is new years, I'm grateful the pie is all gone and it's oatmeal for breakfast instead!)

Fold Over Torte (Apple Berry and Peach Berry)

It's Tuesday again, and while I'm shocked at how fast the week has flown, I'm just grateful that I planned ahead and made this delicious Dorie treat a few weeks ago! Although this looks pretty fancy, it's nothing more than a pie crust placed in a springform pan and piled high with fruit and a quick custard. Easy, I promise. Plus, with the pastry, the fruit, the filling- all the amazing ingredients come together to make a real crowd pleaser.

Grab the recipe from Cakelaw or, better, yet, buy the book. This delicious recipe is yet another example of the merits of joining a baking group- I'd never have tried it without the push, but we all loved it!

Fruit Salsa with Triscuits and Cream Cheese

{printable recipe here}
Oh it's so hot. It's not as bad as last summer (when I was super pregnant) but it's really, really hot. To compensate, we've been spending all of our time in the pool. Baby Strawberry, Ms. Happy herself, loves it of course and my Little Man is getting used to the idea. I think three is the age of irrational fears but hey, we're all afraid of things (me? Mayonaise. SUPER creepy.) Well last weekend was no exception and we were in the water almost all day Saturday. We had a Church swim party and there was also a Salsa contest. While it seems contradictory I love super hot food in the summer and I think everyone else agreed, practically drinking up the hot salsas. I brought this fruit salsa for something different and even though it didn't win, when I took it home and tried it on top of triscuits I couldn't believe how great the combo was. Then I got thinking, "This just needs some cream cheese" (not a rare thought for me, I'll admit) and so I spread a little on and it was perfect. Creamy, crunchy, sweet, salty, everything. It even distracted me from the heat so I think this is a winner!

Have you heard about the home farming movement from Triscuit? They sent me a couple of boxes of Triscuits that include seed packets to start an herb garden. I have a pretty good little one growing on my front patio and love the smell of the fresh basil as I walk outside. They also included a giftcard to buy supplies to grow the herbs (basil and dill) and I have a new little pot sitting on my counter waiting to sprout. I've never grown anything from a seed before so we'll see. It was a really fun little project for my Little Man and I and Baby Strawberry loves Triscuits (I love that they don't make an enormous mess!) Try the reduced fat Triscuits with this salsa (and my favorite- Neufchatel reduced fat cream cheese) and let me know what you think.

Anne Strawberry's Fruit Salsa
{printable recipe here}
Note: This recipe easily accomodates whatever fruit you have on hand- try to chop everything to the same size for better presentation. A food processor makes nice work of this (particularly with the copious strawberries) but make sure to pulse, not puree, to end up with perfectly chopped fruit.

2 pounds of strawberries, chopped
2 peaches, peeled and diced
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 pint of blueberries, roughly chopped
1 mango, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons fruit jam (I used raspberry)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
zest and juice of two limes
3 ounces neufchatel cheese, softened
1 box of reduced fat triscuits

Prepare all of the fruit and stir together into a large bowl. Stir in the jam, brown sugar, zest, and lime juice until nicely combined. Refrigerate for an hour and serve with Triscuits spread with cream cheese.

Red Velvet Cupcakes in a Jar for the 4th

Happy Fourth everyone! We are spending the weekend with family- it's going to be crazy and fun. We had a BBQ last night with my family and I made these Red Velvet Cupcakes for dessert. I saw these Cupcakes in a Jar a few months ago and couldn't wait to try them out. We had to laugh because the women saw right away that they were cupcakes, just the trifle version. As for my Dad, I asked him if he wanted a regular cupcake or one of these, and he picked this, saying, "I don't want a cupcake, yuck." So we thought we could trick him into eating one of these if we didn't tell him what it was (you do that too, right?) It worked for a minute until he realized it was still a cupcake! These were really cute, though, and simple to make. Just bake a cupcake without a liner and cut it in half after it cools. Layer up cupcakes, frosting, and topping until you like it.


Because my tall man can't have chocolate, I made a "Lemon Velvet" cupcake. I know it's not at all true to form but it tasted great. Basically, I made my regular doctored cake mix red velvet style, but I used a lemon cake instead. I topped them with blueberries for color and because lemon blueberry is one of my favorite combos. A light, lemony cream cheese frosting on top sealed the deal. Give these a try next time you want to serve cake. Even if the guys didn't care, the presentation really went well with the women! Happy fourth of July- be safe and enjoy it!


Quick Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe
My Favorite Frosting Recipe

TWD- Tender Shortcakes

If you're thinking I missed the shortcake boat, you're right. I made the wrong recipe for this week on accident! Never fear, though, since any Dorie treat is guaranteed to be delicious. These Shortcakes were no exception.


I only made half a batch because I almost passed out when I read the recipe and did a quick "butter per serving" approximation. Before you go calling me Ellie Krieger, I do bake out of Dorie's lovely book often enough that a little butter doesn't scare me- I know you're all SO surprised. Even so, lots of butter, with lots of cream (so essentially more butter) and not that many servings left me a little nervous! I'm not sure why I kept avoiding this recipe for these reasons, especially since I've openly confessed  my love for pastry cream which is much more deadly, nutrionally speaking! So, back to my faulty logic, I halved the recipe and used a cookie scoop to make smaller shortcakes. Piled mile high with berries, no one noticed. Then I topped them with lots and lots cream, because apparently I don't count the calories in the garnish in my crazy reasonings! I have to say, this recipe is simple and easy and a good use of cream if your container is about to go bad (I'm told some people don't bake often?) It came together in a hurry, only required a few minutes in the oven, and was extremely versatile. And these tasted great, butter, cream, whipped cream and all. A definite make again!

Find the recipe here- Cathy is one of my favorite TWD bakers (thanks for the great choice!) And if you don't have all your weeks mixed up like I do, you can see the beautiful Raisin Swirl Bread from the rest of the TWD group. Hopefully I'll sneak that one in later this week!

Raspberry Limeade Cream Slushie Pie

{printable recipe here}
Oh I'm so sorry I fell off the face of the earth and left my blog all... stale I guess! Well, I'm back. We took a last minute trip to Utah and I've been in recovery mode since. My laundry (and kids' sleep schedules) are finally back under control and I'm excited to post some fun recipes I've been working on. For today, though, I have my submission to this month's "You Want Pies with That" event- and the theme is Summer Drinks. Well, I don't really drink anything but water (or an occasional glass of milk with a cookie) but everytime I drive by Sonic I crave a cream slushie. So, when limes and berries were on sale, I knew my choice was made for me.

Now I really wanted this pie to turn out cute and fun, so I thought I would swirl the two batters together for some color contrast. I froze the pie and when I served it up it was so SOFT! I'll admit I was pretty heart broken. Just now, though, I realized my problem- I had forgotten to bake the key lime for a few minutes (I think I mixed my two baking favorites, Ina and Dorie, up- Ina's key lime pie is frozen but Dorie bakes hers first!) So, I guess the moral of the story is to "do as I say not as I do". Either way, this was yummy and I'm going to make it again and actually follow my own proper directions. Ahem. I think I needed a nice summer drink to cool my head down and pay attention! Don't forget to check out the rest of the Pies!

Raspberry Limeade Cream Slushie Pie
{printable recipe here}
from Anne Strawberry

For the crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about one sleeve)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon Lime Zest

For the lime filling:
4 large egg yolks
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 C. Fresh Key (or regular) lime juice (from about 5 regular limes)
1 teaspoon Lime Zest


For the cheesecake filling:
1 package Neufchatel (reduced fat cream cheese), softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup whipped cream (the recipe calls for Cool whip which would be fine I'm sure, but I prefer the real deal!)
1 teaspoon Lime Zest

To make the crust:

Butter a 9-inch springform pan (or pie plate or tart pan). Stir the crumbs and sugar together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn't have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the filling.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl beat the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until thick and pale. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the remaining juice, again mixing until it is blended. Pour into the shell and bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whip the cream cheese and sugar until it's soft and fluffy. Fold in the whipped cream and lime zest and pour over the key lime pie. Stir in or garnish with some raspberries and transfer to the freezer for an hour or two. Serve and enjoy! 

Crust and Lime filling adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan, Cheesecake recipe from Kraft Foods

My Favorite French Tart

{printable recipe here}
Oh man, French tarts are one of my very favorite foods of all time. Really. I knew this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe would be a perfect addition to our Mother's Day Dinner. Of course by the time I made the pastry cream I realized that I did not have enough eggs! So instead of the last two yolks I just used one whole egg. I also used 2% milk since that's what I had. At this point I figured I might as well keep on so I cut a little butter. The final product? Still totally delicious. You probably shouldn't really trust me, though, because I'd eat pastry cream all day long if I could. I have to say, though, that this tart was gone in give minutes. There just wasn't time to put the glaze on top because we were so excited to eat it. Thanks for the perfect recipe choice, Cristine (find the real recipe on her blog).

 

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day! I spoke in Church about my mom and motherhood and while I'm super glad it's done I appreciated the chance to think about how grateful I am to be a mother. Here's a side by side pick of my little man and Baby Strawberry (both 7 1/2 months, they sure look alike but wow there was a lot more of him to love if you know what I mean!)

One last thing... Will someone please tell my Tall Man to surprise me with this rectangular tart pan? Seriously? After reading everyone's tart posts I'm coveting one of these more than ever. I might even make him a rack of ribs in exchange- sound good?


My Favorite French Tart
by Anne Strawberry
{printable recipe here}

One fully baked 9 inch tart shell, recipe below
Half a batch of Vanilla bean pastry cream, recipe below
1 pound strawberries, washed, stems removed, and sliced in half (or fruit of any variety- this time I used 1 pound of strawberries, 3/4 cup blackberries, and 3 kiwis)
2 tablespoons strawberry jam
Powdered sugar, for serving

Line baked and cooled tart shell with the pastry cream, spreading evenly over the bottom of the shell. Arrange the strawberries in a pattern, squeezing in tightly.

Heat strawberry jam until warm and spreadable in the microwave or a small saucepan. Brush over strawberries to create a shiny topping. Slice and sprinkle each piece with a little powdered sugar (using a sieve) and serve.

Sweet Tart Dough with Nuts
From Baking by Dorie Greenspan

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup ground nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc- just pulse in food processor with a little powdered sugar)
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 T) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, nuts, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in- you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal fakes and others the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses- about 10 seconds each- until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change- heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate and dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

To press the dough into the pan: butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t be too heavy handed- press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferable longer, before baking.

To partially or fully bake the crust: center a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

Butter the shiny side of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, against the crust. (since you froze it, you can bake it without weights). Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, carefully press it down with the back of a spoon. For partially baked crust, patch the crust if necessary, then transfer the crust to a cooling rack. To fully bake the crust, bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. Transfer pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.

"Slightly Lighted" Pastry Cream
adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan

2 1/2 cups 2% milk
4 large egg yolks
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature
Seeds from one vanilla bean (optional)

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk-- this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are full incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold or, if you want to cool it quickly--as I always do--put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

{printable recipe here}
Sometimes it takes longer to photograph and write up a recipe than it does to make it! This is one of those recipes- a quick graham crust (you could even buy it, though it wouldn't taste as great), sliced berries covered in a quick sauce (with a hint of lemon zest to surprise), and sweet whipped cream. It took only a few minutes to put together before I had to run to a Church meeting, and then this luscious, red pie sat in my fridge waiting. I was impatient. I'd made a yummy dinner but I couldn't stop thinking about this pie.

By the time everyone was ready to eat it there was no time for photos! I took a couple and we dug in. The pie was gone faster than it was made. I ran these pictures through this fun site and love the old look to them. This is a simple, classic dessert. I don't know a soul who would turn it down. Thank goodness strawberries are in season, because I must to make this again. Thanks Romaine for the new family favorite.

Fresh Strawberry Pie
{printable recipe here}
from Anne Strawberry
adapted from the wonderful Romaine

For the crust:

1 sleeve of graham crackers (or 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs)
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor with the sugar and salt. After they are smooth, turn the machine on and pour the melted butter through the tube until just combine. Gently press into the springform pan (or pie or tart pan) and smooth over bottom and sides, as desired (I usually make mine pretty rough edged, it doesn't have to be perfect!) Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the filling.

For the filling:

2 pounds of strawberries, washed and sliced
2/3 cup cold water
2 tablespoons corn starch
3 tablespoons powdered strawberry jello (1/2 a small, 4 ounce box)
3/4 cup corn syrup
zest of one lemon

Whisk water and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Beat in cornstarch, jello, and syrup and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Stir constantly until mixture thickens and starts to bubble. Remove from heat, stir in lemon zest, and mix in the sliced strawberries. Stir gently and pour over crust. Refrigerate at least two hours before serving with whipped cream or ice cream.

Have a great day!

Crepes and Caramel Sauce

Did you have late start days in high school? We used to get together and make crepes on those days and wow they were delicious. My friend Brittany had the best recipe and they always turned out great. Since then I've tried lots of recipes (even Alton Brown's) and none compare to hers. They are easy to make (they don't rip when you flip them), don't require any special tools, and taste great with any filling. Get some strawberries and nutella and I'm yours for life. Make this caramel sauce if you're feeling fancy.

To make these all you'll need (besides flour, eggs, milk, butter, and vanilla, which you have I'm sure, right?) is a nice round nonstick pan, a brush for the melted butter, a bowl and whisk. I think even my non cooking friends have that. A fabulous weekend brunch awaits you- go go!

PS If you're thinking of getting me a birthday present (well that's in five months but it's never too early) I've been lusting after a griddle style crepe pan ever since I saw my French teacher's years ago- here's a nice one on Amazon or an less expensive option too, that has amazing reviews. Someone tell my husband...)

Oh one last thing- Katrina is the winner of my last giveaway. Congrats!

Caramel Sauce
from Dana Garry

½ cup melted butter

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup corn syrup

½ teaspoon vanilla

Bring to a boil in a medium to large saucepan, stirring constantly, and boil for 2 minutes.

Add ½ cup heavy cream.

Bring to a boil again, stirring constantly, and add ½ teaspoon vanilla.

(My recipe doesn’t actually say stir constantly, but I have learned that you must be very careful not to let it burn on the bottom.)

TWD- Soft Chocolate Tart with Chocolate Cheerio Crust

{printable recipe here}
This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was delicious and quick- I love that! I subbed out the tart crust for my new favorite chocolate cheerio crust. It's "healthy" (all things considered) and super quick. Pour a little ganache on top and you have a tasty treat that was eaten even quicker than it was made. My testers didn't notice the berries inside so nice time I think I'll just leave them out to put on top. Please don't look too closely at my piping job. I almost failed the Wilton course one cake decorating class and deservedly so (that's one of the many reasons I love cupcakes!) I do hope you'll try the chocolate cheerio crust- I'm loving it lately!

 (this is why I don't do process photos- that and the flour that ends up all over my camera!)

Come back tomorrow for St. Patrick's Mint brownies. Mmmmm. Grab the real tart recipe at Rachelle's.

Chocolate Cheerio Crust
from Anne Strawberry
{printable recipe here}

2 1/2 Cups Chocolate Cheerios, crushed (in a baggie with a mallet or in the food processor)
1/4 Cup Melted Butter
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cocoa Powder (I like Hershey's special dark)

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine all ingredients and press into four mini springform pans or one regular springform. A pie pan will also work if that's all you have. Make sure the layer is even and not too thick. Bake for 8 minutes and set aside to cool completely.

Brown Sugar Raspberry Blondies (and the winner!)

{printable recipe}

Slacker, slacker, slacker. Between working on getting the laundry folded before it's time to wash again and Christmas fun, I've pretty much totally neglected my blog. I do have fun news though. First, I have a winner for my Lemon Tart Giveaway- it's Megan! Thank you so much to the author, Josi Kilpack, for donating the book and for everyone's great reading suggestions. Hopefully my Baby Strawberry and Little Man will be on the same nap schedule soon and I'll start reading things besides cookbooks and emails again, haha.

I also received a nice but very frustrated email from someone who wants my recipes to be printable. So, in honor of my 200th post coming up next (and yet to be planned, ahem) I'm going to try to start including a printable recipe with the posts, following Aggie's wonderful instructions. Don't tell my husband I'll be taking one extra step, he already thinks I spend too much time as Anne Strawberry, instead of Anne Wife (but I think the roles go together, right?)! Maybe sometime I'll go back and add links in (which I did with my Orange Rolls). Let me know how they work out for you guys. I do love the feedback people give, especially when a recipe worked out for them.

Okay enough business- I feel like I just held a meeting or something. On to some brown sugar laden goodies I made specifically for my Tall Man with more of the delicious sugar from C&H. This recipe comes from their site and I modified it to include raspberries (since I had those in the freezer). It's a winner, especially for the non-chocolate eaters out there. It's not such a wonderful time of year to have to skip out on chocolate but eating these will help you forget that! That said, a dark or white chocolate drizzle would be amazing on these...

Brown Sugar Raspberry Blondies
recipe adapted from C&H Sugar

{printable recipe}

1 1/3 Cups Flour
1 1/3 Cups C&H Brown Sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup frozen raspberries
½ cup chopped pecans

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour small rectangular baking dish (line the pan with foil for easy removal and cutting later. If you want these gooier use a small square pan, but next time I'll keep them a little thinner for even baking).

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, oil, eggs and vanilla; mix on low speed of electric mixer until blended. Mix 1 minute on medium speed. Batter will be thick. Spread half of batter in pan. Toss raspberries in small amount of flour. Scatter berries over batter; spread remaining batter on top (gently!). Sprinkle with pecans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool on rack and cut into 16 pieces. Chocolate Chip Variation: Sprinkle ½ cup chocolate chips over batter with pecans.

TWD- Cranberry Caramel Apple Crisp with Walnuts

Now that I have two kids I figure it's about time to be a grown up. Part of that entails nuts, since my mom always told me I would like them when I got older. You know how grown ups always opt for the nuts on their sundaes and in their banana bread (blasphemy!)? But I'll be honest... I'm not quite there yet. I love certain nuts but I'd never want nuts in my cookies and heaven forbid they get sprinkled on top of something creamy like pudding and ruin the texture. And cocoNUT? I don't want that in any form (am I the only person who thinks it tastes like sunblock?) However, one thing I've decided actually really benefits from the addition of nuts is any sort of crumb topping, so I added walnuts to topping of this delicious crisp and then threw in some chopped up caramel since I'm really still a kid at heart.

Now in all seriousness, one thing I've learned since I started baking too often is that you should follow your instincts with a recipe. Too often I've thought- I should add some whatever and decided to follow the recipe instead, only to try the final product and wish it had cinnamon or whatever I'd left out. I'm still up for trying new things and techniques but when I saw this recipe I knew it needed orange zest so I added it and it worked out great. The flavor enhanced all the others and was nice and subtle.

I'd also recommend subbing some whole wheat flour in the topping. With all the spice and flavors no one will be the wiser (how's that for grown up!) Don't forget you can easily sub in the fruits or nuts you have on hand or in the freezer- this recipe is good like that. Here's the recipe with my changes. I'm definitely going to make this again! Thanks for the fun choice, Repressed Pastry Chef! See the original there and don't miss the other versions from all the TWD peeps. This really is a delicious and quick recipe- perfect with all the holiday craziness already creeping up.

Cran-Apple Crisps
adapted from Baking by Dorie Greenspan

For the topping
¾ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup (packed) light brown sugar
½ cup old-fashioned oats
¾ cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 stick (8 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter cut into 4 pieces

For the filling
5 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch chunks
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries (if frozen, don’t thaw)
½ cup moist, plump craisins (if you are like me and bought the enormous bag at Costco and they've seen better days, plump them up in some hot water, or orange juice even, before mixing in)
1/2 cup chopped up Peter's caramel (or kraft caramels if you haven't succumbed and bought this yet, but you should!)
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Getting Ready:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter eight ovenproof cups or bowls, each with a capacity of about one cup. Put the cups on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

To make the topping:
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture forms big curds, about 1 minute. (You can make the topping up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it in an airtight bag.)

To make the filling:
Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Divide the fruit evenly among the cups then spoon an equal amount of topping over each portion of fruit. Bake the crisps for 40-45 minutes or until the topping is golden and the fruit juices are bubbling up around it. Transfer the cups to a rack and let them rest for at least 10 minutes before serving. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for the perfect fall dessert.

Peach Blueberry Pie with Cream Cheese Filling

I'm vastly relieved to report that peach season has started at last. While peaches are one of my favorite fruits, the real reason I'm rejoicing their coming is their meaning to my palate- the heralding of fall. While it's still over a hundred here and too hot to bake much (my apologies for skipping Tuesdays with Dorie's apple bars), peaches mean that fall is coming. Soon it will cool down, I'll have my baby (35 days to go!), and I won't be so hot all day long!

A slice of this pie will also go a long way toward cooling you down. The crust only takes a few minutes to bake (and you could even buy one if you're inclined, though making and baking this takes less time than it does for me to go to the store and back with my toddler in tow). With the cool, creamy filling it's worth every minute it takes to make (a whole 20 from start to finish, yay!)

Peach Blueberry Pie with Cream Cheese Filling

For the crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about one sleeve)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, meltedTo make the crust:

Butter a 9-inch springform pan (or pie plate or tart pan). Stir the crumbs and sugar together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn't have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the filling.

For the Filling:
1 block Reduced Fat (Neufchatel) Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cold cream

Whip Cream and set aside. In the same bowl, mix the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Remove bowl from stand mixer and gently fold in the whipped cream.

For the Fruit Topping:
4 ripe peaches
2 teaspoons lemon or lime juice
1 pint blueberries
2-4 tablespoons sugar (to taste)

Peel and slice peaches. Place in large bowl with citrus juice and gently toss peaches to cover (this will prevent browning). Add blueberries in carefully then add sugar to taste (depending on ripeness of fruit). Set aside.

To assemble pie:

Spread cream cheese mixture in cooled crust. Spoon fruit on top carefully and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Ina's Peach, Blueberry, Cherry Crumble

It's Thursday again, and that means another lovely Ina recipe for the Barefoot Bloggers, chosen by the fabulous Aggie. I'm starting to feel bad, that maybe people are sick of hearing how much I love Ina, but it's for real. This isn't a teenage, summer romance. I've honestly made over 50 of her recipes and can't really recall any problems or disappointments, if you ignore the pile of dishes and excessive butter purchases. Honestly though, I don't think Ina is as bad about butter as she's made out to be- and even when she is, it's easy enough to modify the recipe to be a little better. For this crumble/crisp/almost cobbler, I'll be sure to use a bit of whole wheat flour next time, since I'm sure not even my brother would notice (and he kind of has radar for that stuff). I also lowered the amount of butter in the recipe below (actually doubling the topping but not the butter, since I baked this for a crowd in a big casserole pan) to make a less greasy crust. I threw in some chopped pecans last minute and they were perfect.

I love fruit desserts. I love Ina. I can't wait for peach season to come and when it does you can bet I'll be pining for the days when I lived in Utah and could walk one block to Allred Orchards stand and pick one of 10 gorgeous varieties. For now, the "fruit lady" hooks up all my Mesa, AZ peeps with delicious Utah fruit all summer and fall long. Email me (top right) for her info if you're looking for some exceptional peaches, starting in mid August, for Crumbles, Crisps, Cobblers, Waffles, Ice Cream, Smoothies... I don't know, just about everything. And make this Ina recipe (it's another good one, surprise!)

Peach, Cherry, and Blueberry Crumble
loosely adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home

For the fruit
2 lbs firm, ripe peaches (6-8 peaches)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 pint fresh blueberries
3/4 cup pitted cherries

For the Crumble
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (sub some whole wheat- I bet no one will notice)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 lb (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
2/3 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Immerse the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until their skins peel off easily. Place them immediately in cold water. Peel the peaches, slice them into thick wedges, and place them in a large bowl. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and flour. Toss well. Gently mix in the blueberries and cherries. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into large baking dish (I used my standard 9 x 13).

For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Dump in the pecans. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it’s in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan lined with a silicone mat and back for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature. If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumble in the refrigerator and bake before dinner. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (highly recommended!)