Recipe: Mixed Berry Crumble with Ice Cream

While I can’t say that I have much of a sweet tooth, the Mixed Berry Crumble is undoubtedly, year after year, something I look forward to making every summer. And wouldn’t you know it, I always seem to crave it right before the Fourth of July (which is perfect, given its colors!). I’ve made a similar version before with apples, but wanted to share the process using berries in case anyone wanted to whip this up over the holiday weekend.

Super simple to make: you basically combine the fruit of your choice and pile on a crunchy, sweet, buttery topping, then bake. Serve with ice cream, and you’re done. I often like to add lemon juice to my fruit mixture, just to balance out some of the sweetness (and the pectin helps create a nice, thick sauce); this time, to make the crumble extra special, I substituted limoncello for lemon juice. I’ve been keeping a bottle of the stuff in my freezer, and I loved how it imparted the necessary acidity and also eliminated the need to add extra sugar to the fruit mixture. As another shortcut, I also used an store bought granola mixture in the topping — very easy, very crunchy.

There’s honestly nothing like the flavor of roasted fruit, buttery topping, and cold, melting ice cream. I think it’s the perfect summer dessert. Try it, and I’m sure you’ll agree. Here’s how to make it:

Mixed Berry Crumble with Ice Cream

Serves 4-6

For the filling:
1/2 pint raspberries, washed
1/2 pint blackberries, washed
2 cups (about 10 strawberries), washed, hulled and quartered
1/4 cup limoncello (if you don’t have this or don’t want to buy it, substitute the juice of 1 lemon and 1 tsp of sugar)
1 tbsp flour

For the topping:
1/2 cup store bought granola (I used one that had a mix of oats, chopped almonds, and puffed rice, and wasn’t overly sweetened. Look for something with as few ingredients as possible!)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
dash of salt
4 tbsp cold butter (half of a stick), cut into small cubes

What you do:
Preheat your oven to 375°.

In an 8″ baking dish, combine all the filling ingredients, and gently toss with a spoon. The flour does not need to be completely dissolved, you just want it to coat much of the fruit, so that it can help create the sauce.

In a small mixing bowl, combine all the topping ingredients. Using your fingers or a fork, mash the butter into the flour, sugar and granola, until it’s well incorporated and the size of small peas. Sprinkle the topping over the top of the fruit.

Place the baking dish on a baking sheet, just in case the filling bubbles up and over the dish (nothing worse than fruit juice spills in an oven!). Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the filling is bubbly and richly red, and the topping has browned and crisped up. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, and swoon.

Images by Victoria McGinley for vmac+cheese