Brown Butter Strawberry Cardamom Crumb Bars

Brown Butter Strawberry Cardamom Crumb Bars with Orange Icing

Filling.

• • 1/2 pound strawberries, washed, hulled and chopped

  • 1/2 cup good-quality strawberry jam

  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice

  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

  • 1/8 teaspoon ground vanilla bean (see note)

  • 2 extra strawberries, to place on top of the crumble

Crust and Topping.

• • 1/2 cup unsalted butter

  • 1 1/2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons, all-purpose flour, divided

  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse Kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom

Icing.

• • 1 cup powdered sugar

  • 1/2 Cara Cara orange, zested and juiced

  • pinch of ground vanilla bean (see note)

Notes:

Since real vanilla and vanilla beans are so precious these days, I don't waste any part of the vanilla bean, using both the seeds and the bean pod. After scraping the seeds from the bean, I save the beans, let them dry a little, and then grind them up in a spice grinder. I keep them in a little glass jar and add those ground bits directly to cakes, cookies, etc. It adds wonderful vanilla flavor.

Don't skip the icing on these. There's very little sugar in the actual bars, and without the icing, they are more tart than sweet, so the icing adds the perfect sweet finish and flavor.

If you don't like cardamom, you can substitute your favorite spice - cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves or allspice, to name a few that would complement these bars.

Getting Ready.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 6-inch baking pan with parchment paper, and lightly spray the paper with non-stick spray.

Filling.

In a saucepan, combine the 1/2 pound strawberries, jam, lemon juice, vanilla and vanilla bean. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Continue to simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently, until thick, syrupy, and reduced to about 1 1/4 cups.

Set the filling aside to cool while you make the crust. The filling can also be made a day or two in advance, and refrigerated.

Crust and Topping.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter, swirling the pan occasionally until fragrant, and nutty brown solids form at the bottom of the pan.

While the butter is cooking, combine the 1 1/2 cups flour with the brown sugar, salt, baking powder and cardamom in a bowl. Pour the browned butter over the flour mixture, scraping up all the brown solids from the pan, too. Use a spoon to stir it together into a soft dough.

Press 2/3 of the dough evenly in the bottom of the baking pan. Bake on the center oven rack for 20 minutes.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons flour to the remaining 1/3 of the dough, and stir together until crumbly - this will be the topping. Set aside.

After baking the crust for 20 minutes, remove from the oven. Spread the strawberry filling over the hot crust, then sprinkle with the topping. Chop the remaining 2 strawberries, and nestle them on top of the crumble topping.

Bake the bars for about 35 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Set aside to cool completely, at least 4-6 hours.

Icing.

Remove the bars from the pan by lifting the paper up and out of the pan. Set on a cutting board, cut into 6-8 rectangular bars, and arrange on a plate.

To make the icing, add the orange juice, a teaspoon at a time, to the powdered sugar, stirring until the icing is a thick, drizzling consistency. Drizzle over the bars. Immediately sprinkle with a little orange zest and crushed vanilla bean. The icing will set quickly, in about 10 minutes.

Yields 6-8 servings

Recipe from Curly Girl Kitchen