I know. It’s not summer. Not even close. It’s April…in New England. There may be a snow storm left in our future for all I know. A girl can dream, though, and strawberry pineapple crumble seems like a great place to start.
Again, I know. Pineapple? In a what? For my entire life, crumble has been synonymous with autumn, apple picking, hot cider, pumpkin patches. Maybe someone would get a little crazy now and then and add peaches or blueberries. Certainly never anything tropical, though. Joy’s vision was genius and I had to try it as soon as possible. Of course, me being me, I had to make some adjustments but I like to think I maintained the original integrity of Joy’s wild “martinis after yoga” fantasy.
I had never purchased a whole pineapple before. The thought of dicing one up was more than intimidating. While standing in front of the bin at Trader Joe’s, I had a moment of panic where I envisioned the knife skidding across the pineapple skin and into my jugular. My roommates would find me collapsed on the kitchen floor, bits of pineapple stuck in my hair, and a floor that would be sticky for the next 12 years to come.
Good news. I survived. I can’t say the same for the floor.
Pineapple battles aside, this was an incredibly simple dish to put together, not to mention beautiful
Bright, fragrant berries, sour pineapple, brown sugar, oats, and butter? If that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right.
I’m certain Joy’s recipe is fantastic as is so please be sure to take a trip on over there. I had a bigger crowd to feed, though, and couldn’t resist tampering with the nutrition. The result was just splendid.
Strawberry Pineapple Crumble
adapted from Joy the Baker
Makes one 9×13 dish
Fruit Filling:
1 lb. strawberries, washed and sliced in half (or quarters)
1 lb. fresh pineapple, diced
3 tablespoons raw sugar
3 teaspoons corn starch
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
pinch salt
Topping:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons Earth Balance vegan butter, cold and diced into small cubes
1 2/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350*.
In a small bowl, whisk together the filling mixture (except the fruit). Add diced fruit to the 9×13 pan and add the filling mixture – toss together and coat the fruit.
In a small bowl, begin the topping mixture. Whisk the flour, baking powder, brown sugar, and salt. Add the butter cubes and combine with the flour mixture, using your fingers to break up the butter. Add the oats and continue to mix with your hands until the butter and oats are a uniform size. Spread on top of the fruit mixture.
Bake for 30 min or until the fruit begins to bubble over the edges of the topping.
I brought this to a party tonight and served it with Madagascar vanilla frozen yogurt. I was far too involved in my snacking to take pictures but the hostess was very generous to send me home with the left overs…stay tuned for Sunday pictures =)
happyaspie 