It's pretty much the perfect storm of summer fruit out there right now, isn't it? Everything I love is happening all at once: the strawberries and cherries are winding down, while the blueberries and peaches are totally kickin' it.
My freezer is a sea of vacuum-sealed bags of frozen summer fruit, ready to make the best winter smoothies (I don't know where I'd be without my FoodSaver vacuum sealer!).
But I'm not just freezing all my summer fruit: heck no! I'm eating it like there's no tomorrow and I'm also cooking with it.
One way I've used fresh peaches and blueberries (they are just THE BEST partners, aren't they??!!) is in this super-easy blueberry peach crumble.
Now, little known fact: a lot of people misuse the words "crumble" and "crisp" when describing their baked fruit desserts. I grew up on apple crisp that included oats in the topping. Apparently, that was a crumble, not a crisp. By definition, a crumble is just a crisp with oats in its topping -- or maybe it's that a crisp is just a crumble without oats.
(What the ... ?)
Regardless, this blueberry peach crumble is ridiculously easy to make and is so good and fresh that I almost enjoy it more for breakfast than I do for dessert.
One of the things I did that makes this recipe one of my favorite crumbles was to use unrefined, organic coconut sugar in the topping, rather than regular white sugar. If you've never had it, coconut sugar does not in fact taste anything like coconut! Instead, it's got a bit of a toasty, caramel-like flavor that I think makes this crumble topping extra tasty.
So, crisp or crumble, what's your fancy? And what's your favorite summer to use in that crisp or crumble? Leave a comment: The Ninj wants to know.
Blueberry Peach Crumble
(inspired by Joy of Cooking)
Ingredients:
5 cups peaches, peeled and sliced or cubed
3 cups blueberries
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Spray an 8-inch square or other 2-quart-ish baking dish with non-stick spray. Add the peaches and blueberries to the dish and stir gently to combine.
In a small bowl, whisk together all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the butter. Using your hands or a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry mixture until it resembles coarse meal and only very small pieces of butter remain. Sprinkle topping even over fruit in baking dish. Bake for about 30 minutes or until topping is slightly browned and fruit is tender, juicy and bubbling.
www.yankeekitchenninja.com
-- print recipe --
Guess I need to change my recipes for various fruit crisps to say "crumble" instead. Thanks for the clarification (and the yummy recipe)!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it. Now you can start educating everyone else on the difference. :-)
DeleteAlways learn so much here Jules! Delicious crumble, and now I must look for coconut sugar. Is that at the grocery store or a health food store? Yup, glad the blueberries and peaches are kicking in. (I am making a Fresh Peach Pound Cake today, in case you were wondering.) :)
ReplyDeleteAny natural foods store (a la Whole Foods or whatever your local alternative is) will have coconut sugar, or you can use the hand link above. :-) LOVE summer fruit and your pound cake looks amazing, too!
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