Wood Fired Berry Crisp with Amaretti Streusel

Grilling season is one of my favorite parts about summer at The Chopping Block. Who wouldn’t want to have a chef make delicious food for you in one of our outdoor grilling demonstration-style classes, like New Orleans Brunch on the Grill?

In that class, we feature Grilled Seasonal Fruit a la Mode with Bourbon-Butter Sauce as the dessert. And to be honest, the desserts are my favorite things about our grilling classes. The possibilities of sweet treats on the grill are endless! Grilling your dessert adds a depth of flavor that I will never get tired of.

We recently hosted a grilling class with a Wood Fired Berry Crisp with Amaretti Streusel so I wanted to share this recipe with you so you can recreate this dish on your grill this summer. The best part of this dish is that you probably already have most of the ingredients that you need in your kitchen!

You'll need:

• strawberries
• blueberries
• raspberries (or any combination of fruit that you like)
• granulated sugar
• cornstarch
• ground cinnamon
• salt
• lemon juice
• brown sugar
• old-fashioned oats rolled
• all-purpose flour
• unsalted butter
• Amaretti cookies

You can think about the recipe in three steps:

• Step 1: Make the filling.
• Step 2: Making the topping.
• Step 3: Grill until bubbly.

You can change up this recipe by adding any seasonal fruit that you have or are in the mood for. You mix up any combination of berries or add peaches, plums, bananas or really anything. Any fruit that can be cut up and then placed into a cast-iron skillet will work! You then add sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and lemon juice to your fruit. This helps add flavor.

And let me tell you about this topping! First you mix together the brown sugar, oats, flour and salt. Then using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is moist but still crumbly. You want the butter to be pea size, once heat up the butter will melt and will form an ultimate crumble topping. And stir in the crushed Amaretti cookies.

Then combine it all together and grill! Take a bowl and portion out this berry crisp and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Wood Fired Berry Crisp with Amaretti Streusel

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 10 servings

Active time: 30 minutes

Start to finish: 1 hour, 10 minutes

For the filling:

1 pint (1 pound) strawberries, hulled and quartered

12 ounces (about 2 cups) blueberries

6 ounces raspberries

3/4 to 1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the crisp topping:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup rolled, old-fashioned oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

Pinch fine sea salt

1 1/2 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup amaretti cookies, crushed

Vanilla ice cream

1. Preheat the grill for indirect cooking at around 350°. If using the Big Green Egg, insert the plate setter.

2. For the filling, gently mix together the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and lemon juice in a medium-size bowl. Pour into a buttered 10-inch cast iron pan.

3. To make the crisp topping, mix together the brown sugar, oats, flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is moist but still crumbly. Stir in the crushed amaretti cookies.

4. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit.

5. Place the dish on the grill so it's not directly over the heat source. Close the cover of the grill and bake until filling is bubbling throughout and top is golden, 35 to 40 minutes. Rotate the dish once or twice during baking to ensure even cooking. 

6. Serve warm or room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

This grilling class was a demonstration class, which means you can relax and ask any questions while the chef prepares all of the food for you. Then you get to eat everything the chef makes! We also offer hands-on grilling classes where you prepare the food yourself with supervision from the chef. Whether you like to get your hands dirty or preferred to be pampered, join us for an upcoming grilling class.

We have an amazing one coming up this Saturday to kick off your holiday weekend:

All-American Hands-On Backyard BBQ

• Lemony Grilled Shrimp Cocktail with Spicy Cocktail Sauce
• Slow Smoked Baby Back Ribs
• Red Potato Salad with Dill and Mustard
• Grilled Corn on the Cob with Chive-Lemon Butter
• Wood-Fired Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

Strawberries are this week's challenge in our private Facebook group, so make this crisp this holiday weekend to meet the challenge!