Strawberry poppy seed crisp

This is a kind of crumble. I make it all year round and trade strawberries for peaches, plums, rhubarb and pears throughout the year, adjusting the amount of sugar as I go.

SERVES 4

800 g hulled strawberries, cut into halves and quarters
100 g unrefined light brown sugar, plus 3 tablespoons
grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
100 g ground almonds
50 g porride oats
2 tbsp. poppy seeds
grated zest of 1 unwaxed orange
100 g cold unsalted butter or coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Put the strawberries into an ovenproof dish with the 3 tablespoons of sugar, the lemon zest and the vanilla seeds.

Mix the ground almonds, oats and poppy seeds, and the rest of the sugar in a bowl and add the orange zest.

Break the butter into little chunks and add it to the bowl or pour in the coconut oil, then use your fingers to rub the mixture together, lifting them out of the bowl to get some air into the crisp topping. Once the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs and there are no big lumps of butter, you’re ready to go.

Pile the mixture on top of the strawberries and bake in the hot oven for 25 minutes, until the top is golden and the strawberries have shrunk and started to caramelise around the edges.

Serve this with a big spoonful of coconut yoghurt, but cream, ice cream or custard work too.

IMAGE: Brian W Ferry