BLUEBERRY SHORTBREAD CRUMBLE

Melt-in-your-mouth shortbread crust.  Check!  Juicy, sweet, fresh blueberry filling.  Check!  Golden, crunchy, buttery, crown.  Check!

An oft quoted line from Ralph Waldo Emerson's poem, Hamatreya states the "Earth laughs in flowers."

I've always, always, liked the feeling of this thought. No matter when, or how often, I come across these four little words, a smile rises up in me.

Every once in awhile I have been known to borrow from Mr. Emerson's poetic musings, and happily, playfully, declare, "the Earth laughs in berries." 

Yup, those are my very own thoughtful words.  You can quote me if you want.  It'll make you smile when you do, because, I think we can all agree, that berries are indeed like laughter. Little edible odes to mirth.

Mother Earth laughs, and boop, boop, boop, boop........strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, magically appear begging to be picked and munched, creating juicy smiles all over the planet.  Too fun a notion, isn't it?

Twas this very notion that sidled into mind the other day when I came across a few baskets of particularly enticing, plump blueberries.

Before I knew it, I was home with blueberries in tow, pouring over my cookbooks and scooting about online, looking for that certain recipe that would hit just the right spot this sunshiney, summery day.

Ah ha!  As soon as I came across my old fave Blueberry Shortbread Crumble recipe (hand printed on yellowed foolscap), it was a done deal. No more looky-looing required. 

Over the years I have made this recipe many times and it's always so good.  The flavours and textures get all in cahoots with each other, creating this lovely, craveable, blueberry drenched pie-ish, torte-ish dessert.  Yum!

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BLUEBERRY SHORTBREAD CRUMBLE - Makes one 10-inch crumble

Crust:
2 cups flour
4 tablespoons icing sugar
1 cup butter, softened

Filling:
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 generous cups plump fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Topping:
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup flaked almonds

Crust: In a medium bowl, mix flour and sugar together.  Cut in butter and mix, with hands, until butter is evenly and completely incorporated.  Mixture will be crumbly.  Press into a 10-inch pie plate or 10-inch springform pan.  Press dough onto bottom and up sides approximately 1 inch.  Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes.  When you take the crust out of the oven, if it has 'bubbled' up during pre-baking, just gently press back down with a large spoon.

Filling: Mix together flour and sugar in small bowl.  In a large bowl, toss berries with melted butter, then flour sugar mixture.  As soon as crust is out of the oven, fill crust with blueberry mixture, and cover with topping.

Topping: In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients and mix to combine.  Sprinkle large and small crumbles of topping over blueberries.  Bake at 400F for 30 minutes.  Serve warm with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream. 

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