strawberry-rhubarb crumble

Martha Stewart's definition of crumble:

Crumble: A British name for a blend of berries or other fruit with a textured sugary topping, often with oats; the result is all but synonymous with a crisp.

My definition: Heaven in your mouth, addicting, never sticks around for more than a day.

This recipe is so ridiculously easy...and SO GOOD!
It's definitely something I would recommend to beginner bakers....as well as anyone looking for an easy dessert to whip up!

My family absolutely loves making this in Summer, and we even grow rhubarb (as well as a multitude of berries) on our farm.  Having fresh fruit available all summer is so wonderful...and we often mix up what kind of fruit we use in this tasty dessert as well.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crisp

recipe by: Jordyn!

Ingredients:

6-8 cups of chopped rhubarb (depending on how much fruit you like in your Crisp...we love having a ton of fruit in ours!)

2-4 cups of sliced strawberries (raspberries are also an excellent substitute)

2/3 cup Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

3/4 cup Flour

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt

1/3 cup Butter (cold)

1 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup rolled quick cooking Oats

Directions:

Fruit Layer:

1) In a greased 9x13 glass pan, mix together the rhubarb and strawberries.

2) In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon; then sprinkle over top of fruit.

Crumb Topping Layer:

1) In a medium bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.

2) Then, cut in cold butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

3) Stir in brown sugar and oats.

4) Sprinkle crumbs over fruit evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the fruit is tender.

Nice and easy.  Stir your fruit together in the pan, and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Then, cut in butter until coarse crumbs form, then mix in the brown sugar and oats.

Pour the mixture over top, and it's ready for the oven!

One of the best ways to enjoy this dessert is by adding ice cream!

I hope you've enjoyed this summer-inspired dessert post!
What are your favorite flavor combos in crumbles?

cast iron pan: banana bread

My sister got me a mini cast iron pan for Christmas this year....and it was love at first sight!  I basically want to bake everything in it, and it has led me to many wonderful desserts for two.  The only problem is that now I want cast iron pans in every size!

Jordyn is the genius behind the recipe for this week, and I played photographer and taste tester (what a job!).  

We mixed everything by hand, so know that you don't need a mixer for this recipe!

We decided to add chopped pecans and mini chocolate chips to ours, but feel free to change up the nut or add in different things!

You can use butter or oil to grease your cast iron pan....we brushed a bit of oil on with a silicone brush.  We  filled my 6-inch pan about 3/4 of the way full....ish.  It really doesn't matter too much!

Cupcakes for 2!

Today I'm talking cupcakes.  Yep, cupcakes for TWO!!  Because sometimes making a full batch is a bad idea.   You know what I'm talking about....you promise yourself you'll just have one.  And maybe you hold out for a while, but suddenly you've eaten 8 cupcakes and are curled up on the couch with a stomach ache filled with regret.... Or is that just me?

Anyways, I got the idea from How Sweet It Is, as she did a version of vanilla cupcakes!  I thought it was a brilliant idea, and so I did a few trial runs with my own favorite chocolate recipe until I came up with a recipe I was happy with.  

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it contains no eggs, so no weird egg measurements or strange egg taste in this small of a batch.  I love it!  Here it is:

Chocolate Cupcakes for Two
Recipe:
1/4 cup of Flour (slightly heaping)
3 TBSP of White Sugar
1 TBSP Cocoa Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/8 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp Vinegar
1 TBSP Vegetable Oil
3 TBSP Water

Directions:
1)  In a small bowl mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
2)  Then add in the vanilla, vinegar, oil and water.
3)  Stir with a fork until everything is mixed together.
4)  Pour batter into two cupcake liners.
5)  Bake at 350 for about 15-18 minutes (or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean!).

Also, I am very excited to announce that I'm part of a new blog over at ps:heart!  These will be "sister" blogs, so I'll be posting on both!  So please hop over and say hi!

Easter Cupcakes

I'm in love with how EASY these cupcakes are!  And they still manage to look adorable, and taste amazing!  Pretty good deal if you ask me.

I got the idea from good old Martha Stewart....HERE.

First, you'll need a batch of cupcakes.....your choice!  I used my brown sugar pound cake recipe for mine, or you could go chocolate, mocha, vanilla, etc. Whatever suits your fancy!  And you'll need icing....buttercream, cream cheese, as long as the coconut will stick to it...then it'll work!

Next, I toasted my coconut at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes.  Keep an eye on it, as all ovens will be a bit different....and I stirred mine a couple times to get it to toast evenly!

Once the coconut has cooled, you're ready to go!  (If you're super impatient like I am, you'll find out that warm coconut will totally melt your icing....)

First, you'll want to stick your eggs in the middle, pressing gently into the icing so they stay put.  I used the classic Cadbury mini eggs for mine, although any candy eggs will work!

Then, grab a bit of coconut, and basically "smoosh" it onto any uncovered icing.  Just sprinkling it on won't be enough to make it stay (unless your icing is uber runny), and you might have to go back after to fill in any holes.

I also did a few without coconut, since I know not everyone is as crazy about it as I am!

There you have it! Super easy and super cute!

Happy Easter!