They weren’t plentiful this year, but they sure were pretty and sweet!
Although it seemed unusually short, we did have a brief strawberry season here and the few I was able to procure were very sweet and lovely. They were from North Carolina and Florida, not Georgia berries. I think we had too much rain for a good local crop this year, in fact.
The first round of berries were consumed for breakfast in short order. The second round involved a big blowout berry sale, and I felt compelled to make a dessert. Thinking I would still have more berries coming to make a shortcake this year, I decided to do a crisp first. Alas, I was wrong about the first part of that statement, but this new little twist on my older version of a crisp was absolutely outstanding! Good enough to revisit and share with you today, I think. Making individual servings versus a large pan of crisp concentrated all the flavors of the berries, juices and even the crisp component, into a truly divine dessert. Even if you don’t have fresh and local strawberries, this is a great way to enjoy any berry or peach crisp. But hopefully you do have some strawberries coming your way and can give the following recipe a try!
But before I post the modified recipe below, I must show you the last of the spring flowers from both my garden and my mom’s garden. I know we still have a couple of weeks of Spring left, but it sure feels more like Summer around here right now, and the spring flowers are gone for this year. Above is another little slideshow of flowers for your enjoyment. Have a happy Monday!
The key to this recipe is definitely individual servings. The smaller delivery vehicle concentrates the flavors!
What? No strawberries? No worries, this will work with apples, peaches, cherries or berries. The Grand Marnier is good with cherries, but you can change up the liqueur to suit the fruit and yourself…peaches and a splash of amaretto or bourbon, perhaps? Or you can omit the alcohol altogether. You can also try lemon zest instead of orange…it’s all good!
Individual Strawberry Orange and Almond Crisps
Makes 6
For the berries:
2 1/2 lbs. fresh strawberries, stems removed and sliced
zest of one orange
1/3 cup sugar, preferably cane sugar
2 Tablespoons Grand Marnier
1 Tablespoon flour
For the topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/3 cup cane sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup rolled (not quick cooking) oats
1/4 cup blanched slivered almonds, coarsely chopped
1/4 lb. (I stick) unsalted butter, cold and diced
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter six 1-cup baking ramekins generously and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the berries, zest, sugar, Grand Marnier and flour, stirring to mix well and set aside while you make the topping.
In a small bowl combine the flour, both sugars, salt, oats, almonds and the butter, and use your hands to lightly work the butter into the dry ingredients until it just becomes crumbly with pea-sized pieces of butter.
Transfer the berries and their juices to the prepared ramekins and divide evenly. Top each evenly with the crumble topping. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet that has been completely covered in aluminum foil and place the whole in the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees until the filling is bubbling and the topping is a light golden brown and crisp. Â Remove from the oven and allow it to sit for about 5-10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla bean ice cream.
This post wouldn’t be complete without an unedited picture of the full Strawberry Moon!
*****
bits and breadcrumbs 
Amazing photos of your garden and your Mom’s garden, i can surely see where you got that green thumb from. We were down in DC this past weekend and it was hotter than hell, and terribly humid. Their flowers were so gorgeous in spite of the heat. Strawberry season is somewhat delayed here in Ontario but rest assured I will definitely pop by to revisit this recipe when they are here! And you know how much I love these smaller individual servings, a perfect way to portion control.
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Thank you, Eva, I’m so glad you liked the garden shots. I’m no where near the green thumb my mom is…I just get lucky from time to time! 🙂 DC and the coastal areas are quite humid this time of year so I’m not surprised it was hot as hell there…it was pretty warm here over the weekend, too. Lots to do and see there, though, so looking forward to hearing about it. Enjoy this crisp if you get a chance to try it!
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Your crisps sure look pretty wtth that red juice running down the sides of the ramekins. Where I live the strawberry season is six months long or more, so I get blase about strawberries after the first shortcake or two. I get excited about blackberries, which grow wild here if you can find them, and I love raspberries, which are scarce and dear.
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Blase about strawberries…I cannot imagine! We have a very hard time getting blackberries that are affordable, equal in cost to raspberries, but I love them all. Thanks, Sharyn!
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Wonderful photos, really beautiful flowers. Your strawberry and almond cups look delicious. GG
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Thank you Glamorous Glutton, I’m so glad you enjoyed my flowers and the strawberry crisps. They are delicious, indeed!
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When I saw the photo of those little ramekins with all that lovely red juice running down the side AND the lovely topping – I said ‘WOW’!! And I love the slide show of the gorgeous flowers and your mom’s cool gardening shoes – you could sure tell those were brand new. I think you have one heck of a “cool” mom !!! How ever did you do the slide show?? I’m very impressed !! And – the shot of the moon peaking through the trees is really “something else” !!
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Hi Cecile, and thanks for all your great compliments! 🙂 Those were extra especially good crisps if I do say so myself. I sure wish I could get more local strawberries to make some more of them! I’m quite envious of my mom’s cool gardening shoes. They weren’t totally new when that photo was taken, but I imagine by now they are pretty broken in, LOL. As to the slideshow feature, go look it up on WordPress’ site. They give you really good instructions on how to put one together quickly, and it’s all in your upload media window. It’s quite easy once you get the hang of it!
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I still haven’t seen strawberries at our farmers market yet. Hopefully we’ll have a little!
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I know…last year we had lots of local (ie GA) ones as well as Florida and the Carolinas, and this year they were only around for a week or so. 😦
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I love your mom’s gardening shoes, how fun! Individual strawberry crisps is a great idea for me as portion control would be difficult with something so delicious. Beautiful scenery shots and love that full moon peaking through the trees. Happy cooking. Take Care, BAM
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Hi BAM, and aren’t her shoes great? I wish I had a pair! You know I’d never really thought about the portion control aspect of individual ramekins, but many have mentioned that and it is true…it does keep you in check a bit! 🙂 Thanks for your great comments and hope you are having a good week so far.
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Your images are just lovely and that was a great slideshow. I love the image of the moon, too. And your strawberry dessert looks like it would be fabulous with a scoop of ice cream. I like desserts served in individual ramekins xx
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Thank you Charlie Louie. The strawberry moon was very pretty this year and I was lucky to be out on the deck with a clear enough night to catch it rising between the trees. Not an easy thing to do with so many trees! I’m glad you enjoyed my slideshow and the dessert, too. Vanilla bean ice cream on top is always the way I serve a crisp…it’s a must have. 🙂
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“Adieu” already? Just last Saturday I saw the first strawberries to appear at the farmers market and you’re already bidding them farewell. I had better take advantage while I can.
You’ve shared so many beautiful blooms in the slideshow, Betsy. Love the azaleas and the camellias. How very beautiful! If we could grow them up here, I’d be sure to have a few camellias. I’ll just have to keep coming back to this post and enjoy yours. 🙂
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Yes, unfortunately I’m pretty sure we’ve seen the last of local-ish strawberries because the blueberries and peaches are coming out now. It was an unusually short strawberry season this year and I think it was because we had so much rain all winter and spring. The ground was sodden at the wrong time, maybe? I’m glad I got some while they were around at least! I thought of you when I put the rather bad photo of the whole Colonel Fiery camellia in the slideshow, John, because I think you’d asked me about that. Unfortunately I didn’t shoot it before it started dropping it’s blossoms for the last blooming. That camellia is about 7 years old and still growing. The Japonica are much smaller bushes than the Sasanqua. I love seeing your roses because I can’t grow them in my yard…too much shade. So we’ll just have to keep posting blooms! 🙂
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I love seeing the strawberries oozing over the sides of the ramekins. Sexy!
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It is rather, isn’t it? 🙂
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Delicious! 😉
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Thank you! 🙂
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What a beautiful flowers, really great slide show, love it. The strawberry season is still going on here, luckily. Such a delicious recipe to enjoy the summer with some ice cream on the side.
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Thank you so much! Yes, you must enjoy some ice cream on the side or on top of this crisp…mandatory in my book. 🙂
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Just oozing with goodness. I want to reach in and grab one and the practically slurp it down. Looks so juicy and amazing!
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Oooh, thank you Geni! Your description really, REALLY makes me wish I had some more local strawberries…they were so good in this crisp. I hope you have some coming your way!
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Your garden and your Mom’s garden are so beautiful, so many variety of plants and flowers. Thanks for the tour. Individual strawberry crisps, great idea.
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Thank you, Norma. My garden is kind of wild, while my Mom’s is very organized…she’s the real green thumb in the family! 🙂
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What beautiful pictures Betsy!Thank you so much for sharing them
Strawberries were gone in a flash here too, I only managed to make some jam and a pavlova and that was it!
I will see if I can find some strawberries to make this wonderful crisp, it looks super tempting to miss
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Thank you Sawsan! You’re the only person so far who has commiserated with my short strawberry season…most folks here in the U.S. don’t seem to have any yet! 🙂
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Wow, your garden as well as your mom’s are just so beautiful! I can understand why you want to hang on to spring. Those strawberry crisps look very yummy. 😉
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Hi Malou, glad you like the crisps and the gardens, too. Well, summer is great, too, but just not as pretty as the spring flowers, in my opinion! 🙂
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Can I just say.. I am in LOVE. I love a great strawberry recipe, or strawberry period. I didn’t get a chance to go picking this year but I did have a chance to eat them LOL. Great post
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Thanks, Kay, so glad you are a fellow strawberry fan. Wish I had more strawberries, but now it’s time for Peaches!!!
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Grand Marnier! I had forgotton all about that, how did that happen! Thank you for the reminder and a gorgeous versatile recipe to use it in! c
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Oh yes, my kitchen wouldn’t be complete without Grand Marnier! I don’t drink it much anymore, but I love it in so many things. 🙂 Hope you’re having a great day, miss c.
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I love strawberry crisp and yours look just perfect. I love this recipe with individual serving size too. No fighting over the crisp on top! hahaha…
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So true, Amy. That crisp to fruit ratio is QUITE important! 🙂 Glad you like the looks of this, thank you!
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I love strawberries – these look amazing!
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Thank you, Leslie. I only wish the local season was longer. Outside of season the ones we get here taste like nothing, but I’m glad we had some at all this year! 🙂
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Now those look exactly like the type of crisps I would make Betsy! Gooey goodness overflowing and showing off to the world…as well as making a mess. 😉
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It’s the gooey that pushes them over the top, I think! Thanks, Jed. 🙂
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