At this stage of the season, many of us are becoming downright anxious for warmer temperatures and more sunlight. This recipe is an ode to the fruit you put away last year, or utilizing the freshest fruits of the season.
There are many days when I simply want to throw together a dessert and have it a bit more elevated than your typical one dish dessert. The trick however is getting a recipe to be that, easy, and versatile too (not to mention, good till the last bite).
On that note, I bring you the Peach-y Crisp which encompasses all that and more. The streusel portion is made once, but layered on the base of your dish, followed by a fruit layer, and then sprinkled on top. As it cooks, the base layer melts into more of a crust and the topping crisps up. I consider it as awesome as a good crust – it’s my favorite part and why I desire lots of it!
This recipe calls for fresh or frozen peaches, but you can try the following substitutes. I do encourage you however to use your imagination because just like pie, the combinations are endless!
- Apples/Pears – Peel and thinly slice. Mix with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Berries/Cherries/Rhubarb – Fresh or frozen can be used, but mix with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of sugar and let sit for one hour prior to using in recipe.
- Stone Fruit – Use similarly as you would peaches.
- To elevate your fruit, you can always mix in various flavorings or even alcohol after slicing. Try one teaspoon of perhaps bourbon to go with your peaches, Chambord to go with apricots or almond extract to go with your raspberries.
The topping is something fun for you to experiment with. Try the following in combination or one at a time:
- Add various herbs or spices that would enhance your fruit filling. Cinnamon, cardamom, allspice or even something like rosemary. These can be added in with your fruit too, but they’re just as yummy in the streusel.
- Nuts are fantastic in this and are usually best mixed into the portion you’ll be sprinkling on top. Opt for slivered or chopped nuts and try combinations like pear and walnut, peach and pecan, or raspberry and almond.
- Seeds are a fun surprise to add in, and same as nuts are usually best mixed into the portion you’ll be sprinkling on top. You can try poppy, sesame, chia or flax seeds for a fun and crunchy pop.
- The recipe calls for oats because they’re delicious, but you can opt not to have them.
- The recipe also calls for almond meal and that’s to add in a very delicate crumb. You can swap this out for coconut flour, or regular flour if you want to keep it simple.
- For the gluten free folks out there, if possible use oat flour in lieu of the all purpose flour, but you can also use your favorite gluten free flour.
And finally, you can make it extra super special by serving it up in new way:
- If you make something that would benefit from a hint of chocolate, try shaving some chocolate overtop the dish as soon as it comes out of the oven. It’ll be melty good when you scoop it out.
- For those of you New Englanders out there who eat cheddar with their apple pie, sprinkle some shredded cheddar on top just as soon as it comes out of the oven.
- You can serve it ‘simply’ with whipped cream, mascarpone or ice cream.
And without further delay (because even I’m thinking I need to go make some), here’s the recipe.
To full plates and eating your tarte out.
- 1/2 cup of butter plus one tablespoon
- 3/4 cup of flour
- 2/3 cup of almond meal
- 1/2 cup of oats
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3 peaches, peeled and sliced
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut up the one tablespoon of butter called for in the recipe, and place in the bottom of an oven safe skillet.
- Mix together the remaining butter, flour, almond meal, oats, sugar and salt until small pea sized crumbs form.
- Sprinkle half of the streusel mixture on the bottom of skillet, lay out peaches evenly, and sprinkle remaining streusel mixture on top.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes or until top is browned. Serve warm.
