Guest Author - Roxanne Batson

Baked fruit crisp and ice cream. What could be better on a warm summer day or anytime for that matter? Strawberries, blueberries, or any other kind of berry you like can be used. Vanilla ice cream provides just the right smooth and creamy texture to balance the tang of the berries.

The way I see it, this is also a nutritious dessert. After all, you have your fruit to get the good antioxidants, oats for fiber, and ice cream for protein and calcium. So look at it like a form of nutrition bar, only tastier!

You can make the dessert ahead of time by mixing the fruit in a glass casserole and flour/sugar/butter mixture separately. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over just before baking. Begin baking about 15-20 minutes before you begin eating your main meal.

You can also bake the whole thing an hour before company arrives. Reheat in the microwave for a few minutes before serving. The topping won’t be as crisp, but it will still be delicious.

This is a good company dessert because it serves a lot of people and you can easily add extra portions of fruit and sugar to expand the recipe or make two different dishes and cook at the same time.

Frozen fruit makes it easy, but drain the package of liquid before using. I use berries frozen with no liquid or in natural juices rather than frozen in syrup because it’s not as sweet. Add a little more sugar (1-2 TBS) if you use fresh berries.

You can use as few as two kinds of berries or any combination you like. I buy smaller packs of frozen berries and combine all four of these: blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries.

To finish, serve with a scoop of ice cream on top. Listen for the roars of approval!



BERRY BERRY DELICIOUS DESSERT


6 cups (two 12 oz packs) of frozen mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and/or raspberries)
¼ cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour, divided into ¼ and ¾ units
1 Tbs lemon juice
¾ cup old fashioned oats (not instant)
2/3 cup golden brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
8 Tbs (1 stick) chilled butter, chopped into pieces
1 carton vanilla ice cream


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine berries, sugar, ¼ cup of the flour and lemon juice. Stir and set aside.

Combine all dry ingredients including remaining flour in a bowl. Cut butter into pieces and drop into dry mix. Mash with a potato masher or large fork to break butter into bits mixed in with dry ingredients. Sprinkle clumps of butter/flour mixture over berries.

Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour until top is crisped and golden in color. (Cooking and crisping varies depending on the oven calibration and even local weather.)

Serve with scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

Serves 12



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