Springtime - strawberry time!

12 Sep 2012

Yes, spring is finally here and it is wonderful to be woken up by the birds every morning. It is not quite light when I wake up (5-ish) so my early-morning coffee in the garden will still have to wait for another week or so, but, nevertheless, it is time to spring-clean the house, body and soul. Even in the kitchen it is time to pack away the recipes for soups and stews and make way for lovely light and colourful dishes. The summer fruits are starting to make their appearance on the shelves and nothing beats a delicious berry smoothie for breakfast - or even a batch of blueberry scones gets my family to the kitchen very quickly. Come lunchtime, a simple salad becomes something really special with fresh fruit and goat's cheese.

Strawberries were the first to adorn our shelves and this year they seem bigger, plumper and sweeter than last year. My children could finish a big punnet in no time so if I have a recipe in mind, I always have to mark the strawberries with a big sticker that says: "Do not eat!"

However, although our days are warmer and quite pleasant, nights are still a bit on the chilly side and it is then that my family is still looking for something warm and comforting. This Oatmeal and Almond Strawberry Crumble has the best of both worlds. The strawberries are fresh and tart, and the crumble provides rib-sticking goodness.

For all these recipes, go to www.my-easy-cooking.com

Oatmeal and Almond Strawberry Crumble (makes six individual or one big dessert)

Ingredients
• 1 kg fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Zest of 1 orange
• ½ cup of orange juice
• 1 tbsp cornflour or Mazeina

For the crumble:
• 3/4 cup flour
• ½ cup of brown sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup oatmeal or oats
• 125gr almond slivers
• 125gr cold butter

Mix the sliced strawberries with the sugar, cornflour, orange zest and orange juice. Place in individual cups or ramekins and make your crumble. Preheat the oven to 180C.

For the crumble, mix all the dry ingredients and grate in the cold butter. Mix thoroughly and sprinkle lavishly over the strawberry mixture. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the strawberry mixture is cooked and is bubbling out from underneath the crumble and the crumble is golden brown in colour.

Serve with a good drizzle of thick cream or creamy vanilla ice cream.

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About Nina Timm

I am the owner and sole editor of the 2012 Eat Out Award-winning blog, My Easy Cooking. I cook, I style and I photograph every single day of my life. I run a cooking school for groups such as team building, birthday parties, friendship groups, domestic workers and children.