Fruit Crisp Emily

As you can see from the most recent postings, I've been having fun with all sorts of fruit dishes.  Last Saturday I began making Emily's Peach and Raspberry Crisp, a recipe I clipped from a magazine in 1992. After using all the peaches and raspberries I had on hand, the amount of fruit looked kind of skimpy.  I looked in my fridge and added rhubarb and plums to bulk things up a bit.  The result was a huge hit.  I brought the rechristened fruit crisp to Lee's house for dessert.  My friends could not get enough of the stuff.  Lee, an experienced pie maker, said the crisp was better than the pies she had just made and a whole lot less work.  The lesson here is to combine any fruits that seem to go well together and wait for the accolades.   This is what I did:

2 pounds peaches, peeled and sliced

1 pint raspberries

2 stalks rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch slices

2 plums, sliced

1/3 cup sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup plus 1 tbl. flour

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into bits

1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter a 9 inch by 9 inch baking dish.  In a medium bowl, toss the peaches., raspberries, rhubarb, plums, sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tbl. flour, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves together.  Add fruit mixture to the baking dish.

For topping, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup flour and butter in a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. (This can also be done by hand).  Remove from food processor and add walnuts to topping mix.  Sprinkle topping over fruit, spread evenly covering all the fruit.  Bake for 30-40 minutes or until topping is lightly browned.

Serves 6

Notes: Emily suggests serving with whipped cream but I always offer ice cream. 

Serve the crisp either warm from the oven or, if made in advance, reheat in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Feel free to substitute other fruits such as blueberries, nectarines or apricots and don't get hung up on amounts.  It will all work out.