Celebrate Summer with a Strawberry Crisp

Crisps are one of my favorite summertime desserts. Not only are they simple to make, theyre a great way to use up a lot of fruit, whether you get it in a CSA basket or spent a day picking berries. Its also my favorite among the family of similar desserts such as cobblers, crumbles, buckles, and grunts (yes thats actually the name of a dish). While theres some debate over what the difference between a crumble and a crisp, I generally think of crumbles as having a denser streusel-like topping, while a crisp has a crispier topping, often containing oats. Because the whole point of this type of dessert is the fruit, I dont add any spices to the fruit mixture and keep the sugar and thickener to a bare minimum. The topping is were I would introduce new flavors and in this case, Ive used toasted sesame seeds to bring a rich nuttiness and a combination of dark brown sugar and maple syrup to add a deep earthy flavor. If youre wondering why Im using potato starch instead of cornstarch, its because it will thicken the fruit without making it gummy and because it wont cloud the fruit juices. You can use other fruit with this recipe, but youll need to adjust the amount of lemon juice, sugar and potato starch depending on the fruit. Fruits with a lot of moisture like berries and peaches need more starch where as dryer fruits such as apples will require less. The amount of sugar is a personal preference, but since the topping is very sweet, I like to keep the amount of sugar in the filling to a minimum. Acidity from the lemon juice should be adjusted depending on how sour your fruit is as well as how tart you like your crisps. You can mix the fruit mixture and make the topping ahead of time, storing them separately in the fridge, but dont put it together until youre ready to put it in the oven. Serve hot with whipped cream, crème fraiche or ice cream.

---

Marc Matsumoto is a culinary consultant and recipe repairman who shares his passion for good food through his website norecipes.com. For Marc, food is a life long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation and he shares his escapades through his blog in the hopes that he inspires others to find their own culinary adventures. Marcs been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has made multiple appearances on NPR and the Food Network.