I just love it when summer berries are in season. There is nothing better than going to the Farmers Market and seeing baskets of bright, colourful berries. Since this is the berry* last weekend of summer, I thought I would share with you the ultimate summer berry crumble. *I know – that was pretty bad, wasn’t it?!? 🙂

I usually make an apple crumble (or Apple Betty as my Grandma used to call it). It is a very satisfying fall harvest dessert. Fresh apples topped with a delicious topping of rolled oats, cinnamon and brown sugar. Yummy! Earlier this year, we were at our friends Kim and Ryan’s for dinner, and Kim made a gorgeous Triple Berry Crumble with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. I wanted to attempt to make something similar, so off to my cookbook cupboard I went!

While I was glancing through Eat, Shrink & Be Merry a photo of a scrumptious blueberry crumble caught my eye, it was called Rhapsody in Blueberry, and it looked delightful. The original recipe called for six cups of blueberries, but I wanted to split that with my all time favourite fruit, raspberries.

As I looking over the recipe, I noticed that the ingredient list for the crumble topping included orange juice. When I went to the fridge, I realized that I didn’t have any on hand. I started to panic, but then I glanced over at our citrus bowl (always topped with fresh lemons, limes and oranges) and realized that I could just squeeze an orange! Sometimes we overlook the obvious! 🙂

Because I was using a fresh orange, I also incorporated orange zest along with the recommended lemon zest.

While this was baking in the oven, our apartment smelled amazing. The combination of fruit, cinnamon, brown sugar and that hint of citrus made me watch the timer on the stove with bated breath, just waiting for the moment I could take it out of the oven. I couldn’t wait to try it! Blueberries and Raspberries! It was going to be amazing!

Let me tell you though, this is really, really hot when it comes out of the oven. When I saw the berries bubbling, I knew that waiting would likely be a wise move.

The wait for the crumble to cool down was agonizing, but totally worth it! This was so flavourful, especially when served with a scoop of decadent vanilla ice cream, and was the perfect summer dessert!

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Adapted from:
Eat, Shrink & Be Merry – Rhapsody in Blueberry
Janet & Greta Podleski

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 3 cups fresh blueberries
• 3 cups fresh raspberries
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 2 tsp grated orange zest

Topping:

• 1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• juice from one orange

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.  Spray a 9×13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Add in blueberries and raspberries.  Sprinkle fruit with white sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and lemon and orange zest.  Mix well and set aside.
3. To make topping, combine oats, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in medium bowl.  Add melted butter and orange juice.  Using a fork, stir until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle crumb mixture over fruit mixture.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until fruit is bubbling around the edge of the pan and the crumb topping is golden brown.
5. Cool for 10 minutes before serving (this is very, very hot!).
6. Serve with a scoop of your favourite vanilla ice cream.
7. Enjoy the last weekend of summer!