Is there anything more lusciously sumptuous than baked sweet and sour fruit with something crunchy on top and a scoop of ice cream upon which to dream?  Maybe you’d say crème brûlée or, if you were a chocolate hound, tender creamy, richly suffocating brownies. (Not that I don’t love either one.)  But I’m not sure you’d be right. Fruit is real stuff compared to egged sweet cream or flour and melted chocolate.  What’s better — or more real — than rhubarb?  Blueberries?

Aside:  Sliced rhubarb, uncooked, as well as blueberries, freeze very well.  Pack tightly in well-sealed containers and freeze for 10-12 months. You can have rhubarb crisp or blueberry pie for Fourth of July or Thanksgiving–even Christmas.

Before the recipe, here’s a little photo story….

  A chop of the rhubarb, a mix with blueberries, a little sugar and…a rest to drain off the liquids…  (above)

Into a buttered casserole awaiting its topping as a dog waits for supper…(above)

Speaking of dogs:  Here’s Miss Gab feeling much better after her wretched and frightening response to her leptospirosis vaccine. She’s now snarfing down her canned + kibble food…after nearly 10 days of barely touching anything I fixed for her. Notice Tucker near her in the background. (above)

The oatmeal topping with the pastry cutter– or you could use the beautiful tools called fingers, a food processor, or even two knives,  (above)

Pouring the topping onto the fruit… (above) 

Into my dirty oven… (above)

All hot and bothered–done, I mean. (above)

Here’s how:

BLUEBERRY-RHUBARB CINNAMON CRISP

serves 10                        This recipe can be cut in half and baked in a 1 1/2 – 2-quart casserole or pan.

Preheat oven:  375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease a 9×13 casserole or metal baking pan (about 3 quarts)

• 7 cups sliced rhubarb (cut into 1/2-inch pieces)  –approximately 2 pounds
• 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1 cup sugar

In a large bowl, mix the fruit with the sugar and let rest 10 – 15 minutes.  Pour into a colander and briefly drain. Return the fruit to the bowl and stir in…

• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Tip the fruit mixture out into the casserole or pan, spread evenly, and then make the topping:

• 1 stick (1/4 pound) cold, salted butter
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup EACH white granulated sugar and brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, optional
• 3 tablespoons melted butter, optional

In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients except the melted butter.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients until well combined — big crumbs — using a pastry cutter, your fingers, two knives, or pulsing slowly in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.

Spoon the flour mixture evenly onto the fruit and, if desired, drizzle with the additional 3 tablespoons of melted butter.  Place casserole or pan on a large rimmed baking tray.

Bake 35 – 45 minutes or until the topping is browned and the fruit is bubbling up through or around the crisp. Let crisp cool on a rack 15 minutes before serving warm, at room temperature, or cold with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  

Store tightly covered on the counter for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

{printable recipe}

Sing a new song, enjoy your loved ones — including your dogs –,

Alyce

(left: Miss Gab almost asleep next to our bed.)