Many years ago, I made up a
chart of consisting of the proportions of fruit and topping ingredients in each
of the fruit crisp recipes I could find. It was a lot of fun to approach a
recipe this way, and I’ve been sort of informally distilling that chart down to
a grand unified fruit crisp recipe.
I adapted and adjusted flavors
to accommodate the fruits of the season, and got pretty comfortable using a
basic topping recipe that could be tweaked to make the most of the fruits I was
using, or to use up what was in the pantry to make dessert. It wasn’t until
recently, however, that I realized how simple it would be to make this kind of
dessert no matter how much or little fruit I have on hand or how many or few
servings I wanted to make.
What I do now, is mix up a
big batch of crispy, crumbly topping – also known as streusel - and keep it in
the freezer. The streusel I use is a simple mixture of rolled oats (quick oats
would work), chopped nuts, brown sugar, flour, and some kind of liquid fat. I
like oat flour or whole wheat flour, but just about anything would do. I like
to use nut oils and match the chopped nuts (eg, almond oil with almonds), but melted
butter is also delicious, and canola oil works well without any significant
added flavor.
I just need to pool together
whatever fruits are in the refrigerator (or use just one kind of fruit if that’s
what I have), sweeten them to taste, add some flavorings such as lemon juice, almond
extract, or cinnamon, and sprinkle in some cornstarch to thicken the juices
that will be released when baking. I mound my mixture into some mini pie plates
or ramekins, and put a good handful of streusel on top. Then, I bake them and that’s
that.
Most recently, I used a
mixture of firm but flavorful sliced peaches, super sweet and juicy golden
plums, and some perky blueberries. I flavored it with a splash of each lemon juice
and almond extract, and a bit of sugar. It didn’t matter how much fruit I used,
because I had whatever small baking dishes I needed (2 mini pie plates and a
ramekin) and a whole batch of crumble topping.
You can customize both the
filling and the streusel topping to your liking ad infinitum! For stone
fruits, I like to use a streusel with almonds and almond oil. For apple, pear,
and cranberry season, I like to have some cinnamon and nutmeg in both the
filling and topping, and use walnuts or pecans and walnut oil. Melted butter
goes with anything.
Once the dishes of crisp are ready
to bake, I like to put them on a sheet pan, regardless of their size, to catch
any bubbling-over fruit juices before they burn on the oven floor. I bake at
350 F, and use other indicators than time to decide when to stop baking. The
goal when making fruit crisps (or cobblers or pies) is to have the resulting
mixture of released juices and cornstarch come to a good boil. This activates
the thickening ability of the cornstarch and allows your dessert to be
pleasantly jammy rather than juicy and runny. That bubbling goodness and tender
fruit are what I look for in a finished fruit crisp. For small dishes this
seems to take about 30-35 minutes. For a bigger pan of crisp, it will be more
like 50 minutes to an hour.
I hope you’ll join me in this
free-wheeling on-demand fruit crisp lifestyle. Even if you don’t have time to
put together a freezer bag full of streusel, you could probably just sprinkle a
few handfuls of your favorite granola on a sweetened fruit mixture and bake
that up. Dessert will be spectacular. Minds will be blown.
Fruit Crisp Topping
This recipe can be halved
or multiplied to suit your needs.
You can add spices to taste,
either to the whole batch of streusel or to the streusel you are using to top
your fruit just before baking.
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup flour – all purpose,
whole wheat, or other whole grain
1 cup packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon coarse salt
Up to 2 teaspoons warm spices,
such as cinnamon, nutmeg Pumpkin Pie Spice, or other mixtures (optional)
½ cup chopped nuts
½ cup nut oil, melted butter,
or neutral-tasting oil
1. Combine the oats, flour, brown
sugar, spices (if using), salt, and nuts in a large bowl. Toss together to combine.
2. Pour in the oil or melted
butter. Mix together until the dry ingredients are well coated with oil and the
entire mixture appears moist.
3. Use to top fruit crisp immediately
or store in an airtight container or zip top bag in the refrigerator for a few
days or freeze in an airtight container or freezer bag for a few months. Remove
enough topping to make crisps on demand and bake as directed below. No need to thaw before using.
To make fruit crisps on
demand:
Sweeten:
For about 3 cups of sliced or
chopped fruit, add about 2 tablespoons sugar for sweeter fruit, up to ¼ cup if
the fruit is tart, and 1/3 to ½ cup if you are using particularly sour fruit,
such as sour cherries, cranberries, or rhubarb.
Thicken:
For about 3 cups fruit, add
about 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
Flavor:
Sprinkle in a teaspoon or two
citrus juice, a bit of citrus zest, some minced fresh herbs, or a small amount
of warm spice or extract to taste. Apples and pears are great with warm spices
like cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, and ginger. Almond extract enhances
stone fruits. Fresh basil and thyme are great with berries.
Bake:
Portion your fruit mixture
into a baking dish or dishes (small ramekins or mini pie plates make great
individual servings.) Place as much or as little of your crisp topping as you want on top
of the fruit. You could add spices to your topping at this point if desired.
Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the size of your dish or
pan. Bake at least long enough to allow the juices to come to a boil and thicken
and the topping to get golden brown.
Serve:
Allow to cool at least 20
minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Add a scoop of ice cream or whipped
cream if you like (I do!). Keep leftovers in the refrigerator for a few days.
Other recipes like this one:
Granola, Cherry Plum Crisp, Apple and Cranberry Crisp, Pear Apple Crisp with Cardamom, Pear Apple Crumble Pie
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