When it comes to baking,  Anita my daughter, is the master .  It was so wonderful having her home for the Passover Seder this year.  We hosted 23 people, and Anita volunteered to make the desserts.  When Anita undertakes a recipe her personality shines through.  She is meticulous and a perfectionist and goes to the market 12 times if necessary.  She adds her own touches and notes any changes or suggestions.   She sets timers to not over-bake for even one second and then she removes the dish from the oven, only when it reaches just the right shade of golden perfection.

Anita made this berry crumble and it was out of this world!  When she made it she didn’t use blackberries but in this version I have added them.  I really like this recipe because it is so pliable.  You can use any combination of berries you choose and if the berries are sweet and in season you can lower the quantity of granulated sugar, or you can omit it altogether and use only the brown sugar.

For Passover Anita used Matzoh cake meal.  In the recipe I post  here, I have adapted it for year round use by switching the  matzoh cake  meal for cake flour.  I have kept the potato starch because I find it binds the crumble very well, plus what do you do with all of that leftover potato starch right?

Click on link to the blog to see video of recipe.

Berry Crumble

Filling:

• 4 cups strawberries
• 2 cups raspberries
• 2 to 2 1/2 cups blueberries
• 2 cups blackberries
• zest of one small lemon
• juice of 1 small lemon
• 3 tablespoons potato starch
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar (optional)

Crumble Topping:

• 1 1/4 cups cake flour
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup potato starch
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 sticks margarine (10 tablespoons) unsalted, very cold, cut into small cubes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spray a 9 X 13 baking dish with cooking spray, then place all of the berries in the dish.  Add zest and lemon juice to berries.  Mix together sugars and potato starch in a separate bowl or just add the ingredients directly to the berries and mix gently but thoroughly.

For the topping, mix all of the dry ingredients, then add the cold margarine, working quickly (with your hands) to combine.  The idea is to have some small lumps in the mixture – it doesn’t need to be a uniform dough.  Distribute the topping evenly over all of the berries and bake on the middle oven rack for 35-40 minutes, or until the berries are bubbling and the crumble topping is golden.

Serves 16-20

Enjoy!