Fresh Strawberry Crumble With Pistachios

Strawberry Picking

When you’re out in the berry patch, drinking in the sunshine, tasting warm strawberries straight off the vine with sweet juice dripping down your chin… You don’t think about the size of your refrigerator. This happens to me several times a year. We go to the farm and come home with way more berries than we could possibly use in one week. So what do you do with five gallons of fresh strawberries?

Here’s what I do…

First I separated them into three piles: super-ripe bake now or freeze, ripe use within the next couple days, almost-ripe use within a week. I put most of the super-ripe strawberries in the freezer for smoothies and for postseason baking. Then I used some of the super-ripe strawberries for Strawberry Basil Italian Ice to keep in the freezer for late-night sugar cravings. The next day I put the ripe berries and some of the slightly under-ripe strawberries in spicy Strawberry Chipotle Jam. And finally, I make a lovely Fresh Strawberry Pistachio Crumble for my family to enjoy after dinner.

What’s the Difference Between A Cobbler, Crumble and Crisp?

There are many varieties of baked fruit desserts. Most of them, at one point or another, have been mistaken for “cobbler.” Variations and names tend to be regional. If you like to bake, it’s worth getting familiar with them.

Cobbler – Baked fruit with a rolled crust made of pie crust, cookie dough, or biscuit dough. Sometimes the biscuit dough is spooned over the top, instead of rolled, but it’s always a thick topping. Buckle – Fruit with cake batter poured over the top before baking. Crisp – Baked Fruit topped with a “rubbed” crumb topping usually consisting of butter, sugar, and flour. Crumble – Similar to a crisp with the addition of oats. Grunt/Slump – Baked Fruit topped with biscuit dough, that is then covered so that the biscuit steams instead of bakes. Brown Betty – Baked Fruit with a crumble top made with brown sugar, but can also include buttered bread or cake that has been crumbled in some cases.

Crumble It Up

Today I’m serving you a crumble, named for its crumbled oat top. I personally prefer crumbles to most other types of “cobbler” because of its texture and the way the topping breaks apart when you spoon it out into bowls. For this Strawberry Pistachio Crumble Recipe, I’ve simply combined fresh cut strawberries with a little lemon, sugar, cornstarch for thickening, and a touch of Chambord. I’ve been using quite a bit of Chambord lately because I have a nice sized bottle of it and find it adds such depth to everything it graces. In this dish, the Chambord doesn’t cover, but accentuates the strawberries. I’ve made this same crumble with Bourbon as well. It was just as lovely, but the Chambord does have a way of drawing the berrieness out of the strawberries.

Strawberry Crumble Ingredients

For the Strawberry Filling:

Ripe Strawberries Lemon Chambord Vanilla Extract Granulated Sugar Cornstarch

For the Pistachio Crumble Topping:

Self-Rising Flour Rolled Oats Roasted Pistachios Sugar Butter

How To Make This Strawberry Crumble (with Pistachios)

For the top, combine a simple oat, flour, and butter mixture with chopped roasted pistachios. The salty nutty essence of the pistachios is a great way to balance out the acidity of the strawberry filling. Fresh Strawberry Pistachio Crumble is best with fresh summer berries, but you can make it with frozen strawberries all year long!

How Do You Eat This Crumble?

Crumble: hot or cold? Although it’s tempting to eat a crumble right out of the oven, I don’t advise it. The sauce needs time to cool and thicken so it holds together. Plus, in my opinion, hot berries taste overly acidic. I like to eat baked fruit desserts at room temperature, or just slightly warm. The flavors of the strawberries, Chambord, and pistachios really shine, when it’s not too hot or too cold