Mixed Berry Quinoa Crumble

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Around each March, when I feel as if winter will never end and the snow will never melt, I throw a package or two of berries into my basket at the market. It's an impulse buy—the berries may be brightly colored, but the flavor is so faint and lacking I often feel as if I shouldn't have bothered in the first place. Yet, year after year, the berries are there, a reminder that summer is a few months away, even if the weather outdoors does not reflect it. The berries carry memories of happy moments, long afternoons, and picnics out on the porch.

And now, finally, my basket is overflowing with berries of all kinds. 

The last few days have been cold and windy. I've stayed indoors, buried in books, and enjoying the heat from the oven, a rarity in these summer months. To take advantage, I've taken out the mixing bowls and have been working on whipping up a few desserts here and there.

Lately, I've had a tendency to go a little overboard when buying berries and this week was no exception. I like to throw a handful blueberries in my breakfast each morning. I enjoy eating blackberries slowly, with a side of chocolate. But when these habits aren't enough to to make the berries disappear, I gather the rest together, cover them with a crunchy topping, and bake them up until the juices begin to sizzle.

Crumbles are one of my favorite ways to enjoy fruit. While any fruit could really be used, berries are the most reminiscent of summer to me. While I prefer to eat mine cold and plain, straight from the refrigerator, crumbles are just as nice served warm with a topping of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. With the holiday weekend coming up, the natural color scheme of this particular version seems like an apt way to celebrate. 

Mixed Berry Quinoa Crumble is a wonderful way to use up summer berries. Whether fresh or frozen, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries come together with a crumble topping to create a simple dessert. With the red and blue berries, this dessert can make a great addition to your Independence Day celebrations.

One Year Ago: Dill Dinner Rolls, Sparkling Lemon Drop, and Berry Cheesecake Tarts
Two Years Ago: Multigrain Bread, Blueberry Lemon Crumble, and Vanilla Cupcakes
Three Years Ago: Baby Sugar Cookies, Strawberry Smoothie, and Strawberry Rhubarb Lemonade
Four Years Ago: Strawberry Panna Cotta, Tapioca Pudding, and Blueberry & Raspberry Tartlets

Mixed Berry Quinoa Crumble

Yields 6-8 servings

24 ounces (680 grams) fresh or frozen berries
1/3 cup (75 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1/4 cup (50 grams) brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup (85 grams) quinoa, uncooked
1/2 cup (45 grams) old fashioned oats
1/4 cup (25 grams) sliced or chopped almonds
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the berries, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, and lemon juice until evenly coated. Transfer the berries to a deep pie pan. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the quinoa, oats, almonds, and salt until evenly mixed. Using your fingers, tear off small pieces of dough and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the berries.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is browned and the berries have released their juices. Allow to cool before serving. When serving, top with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or leave it plain. To store, cover and keep refrigerated.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

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Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Each year, just before the turn of the new year, marks the anniversary of the day I quit graduate school in physics. Though it has only been three years, it feels like a lifetime ago. I feel so much older than that bright eyed girl with high hopes and soaring dreams. The hopes are no less great, but a touch of experience has tethered me a little closer to earth. I feel as if it is difficult to keep track of all the changes since then, all the emotions—positive and negative, exciting and disappointing—that I have passed through. I’m older. Not just three years, but what feels like a decade in life and stress and growing.

I’m not the same person I was then, but I wouldn’t want to change the person I’ve become.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake Cranberry Upside Down Cake

The past year has been exhausting. I feel as if I have been running forward, so eager to get on my path, to find where I am supposed to be, that I’ve forgotten to stop and just breathe. I have been trying to do too much, a phrase which has become my unwanted motto for many, many months. Some lessons take longer to learn than others. Since I stopped baking professionally over a year ago, I went back to grad school for a masters in education, with the goal of becoming a high school physics teacher.

When I stopped pursuing physics, I swore up and down (and left and right) that I would never stray towards science again. I had convinced myself so thoroughly of this that I threw away every physics notebook I had kept all the way back to high school in a ceremonial sweep (a sin that I have since regretted).

Cranberry Upside Down Cake Cranberry Upside Down Cake

In August, I took on my first teaching job—you can call me Ms. Rosenau now. Teaching for the first time is a whirlwind. I feel as if I should have been a little more forewarned of the adventure ahead. Teaching is more overwhelming and challenging than I could have imagined, consuming all of my time and energy to create entire curriculums from scratch. Teaching is also extraordinarily rewarding. There truly is never a dull moment when surrounded by 80 sixteen and seventeen year olds both eager to learn and hungry to distract.

If you had told me three years ago that this is where I would have ended up, I may have very well laughed in your face. Life, I found, keeps me on my toes. Once I am certain I have everything figured out, it throws another curve in my path and sends me in a new direction. Even so, right now this is where I feel like I am meant to be. I just hope that life waits a few more years before sending me around the next bend.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake Cranberry Upside Down Cake

Cranberry Upside Down Cake is tart, textured, and colorful enough to impress your holiday guests. The cranberries are cooked on the stove until they "pop" and release their juices. Mixed with raspberries and a bit of orange zest, it forms the bottom (or "top") of the cake. A quick cake batter is mixed up, which is made with brown sugar and sliced almonds for a bit of texture and greater depth of flavor. The cake itself is on the tarter side, but will not make you wish for more sugar. Share with family and friends to bring out the holiday spirit.

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Berry Cheesecake Tarts

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Berry Cheesecake Tarts

Berry No-Bake Cheesecake

The Fourth of July is one of those holidays that I hold close to my heart. It may not have the magic of Christmas or the table spread of Thanksgiving, but it has its own charm. Laughter, love, hot plates of grilled food, the boom of a good firecracker, and the glow of a flickering bonfire—these are things that define the holiday for me. During the long days of summer, taking a break, even for a day, to start up the grill or enjoy the warm sun with friends and family feels like a blessing.

This year I can't wait to lay beneath the stars and watch the fireworks explode brilliantly above.

Berry No-Bake Cheesecake Berry No-Bake Cheesecake

For celebrations and get-togethers, I like to challenge myself to come up with a new dessert to serve my loved ones. In the case of the Fourth of July, when potlucks and picnics are plentiful, the dessert should be portable and require no special dishes so they can be quickly snatched from the table and enjoyed on the run. While I debated between popsicles and pies, ultimately the decision made itself when I spied the red and blue berries at the market.

Though these do need to be kept chilled, these festive no-bake cheesecakes fit the holiday just right. The cheesecakes can be whipped up in less than an hour, making them an easy dessert to prepare (and an even easier dessert to devour).

Berry No-Bake Cheesecake

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Berry No-Bake Cheesecake

Berry No-Bake Cheesecake Tarts are a fantastic way to celebrate summer. A soft sugar cookie crust is filled with a heaping helping of vanilla cheesecake filling. The filling is whipped, which gives the tarts a light quality. Topped with fresh raspberries and blueberries, the tarts play between sweet and tart, never swaying too far in one direction. These tarts make for a lovely end to a vibrant summer meal.

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