If you have functioning taste buds, you probably love pie. But baking pie is really an practiced artform, one that takes skill and patience, of which we have little. More often than not, the problem’s in the crust. So we were super pleased to see, in this week’s NYT Magazine, a Mark Bittman piece dedicated to fruity desserts that aren’t pie.
Bittman dishes up a bunch of options for crisps, gratins, and clafoutis (an egg-based baked French dessert — there, you just learned something). Of the bunch, his Strawberry Crisp with Pine Nut topping had us wiping up drool off the keyboard. Here’s how it goes:
Ingredients
6 cups strawberries
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2/3 cup brown sugar
5 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup crushed pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Salt
Preparation
1. Toss strawberries with lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch; spread in a greased 8-or-9-inch pan.
2. Combine brown sugar, butter, rolled oats, flour, pine nuts, cinnamon, a dash of salt (and almond extract if you like) in a food processor; pulse a few times.
3. Crumble over fruit and bake at 375 for 40 to 45 minutes
(via NYT Magazine)
Photo: Yunhee Kim / The New York Times