Despite spending 15 years in Georgia, I’ve never seen as many peaches as I have in St Louis. To be fair, I was neither a huge fan of peaches nor did I frequent local markets when I resided down South. But since moving to the Midwest, and basking in the abundance of farmers markets and local produce, I’ve been sampling many new fruits (read: rhubarb) and discovering my love for all sorts of new flavors. Last week I stopped into the Soulard Farmers Market and bought a few peaches. I had no idea what I wanted to do with them, but they were so gorgeous and plentiful, I couldn’t resist. And I already had raspberries at home. (Come summertime, my kitchen is never without raspberries.)
I settled on a crisp, which is something I’d never attempted before. For those of you who don’t know, just as I didn’t, crisps are like a pie filling with a streusel-style topping. Although I searched for many base recipes, I ended up improvising based on flavors I thought might work well together. The end result was something that surprised me very much.
I think I officially need to stop saying that I’m not a fan of cooked fruits, because this was far more delightful than I ever expected. The combination of peaches and raspberries left a lovely tart taste in my mouth, and the maple syrup lent a new dimension of sweetness. The topping was just slightly crunchy and buttery, simply perfect. Friends came by and devoured these in a hurry, and we all agreed it was the ideal summer treat, especially with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream.
Peach and Raspberry Crisp
Approximately 8 Servings
Adapted by Amrita Rawat from a recipe originally published in Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook 1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
6 Tbsp. cold butter, cubed
¼ cup oats (You can increase this to 1/3 cup if you really like oats.)
6 to 8 peaches, peeled and cubed
1/3 cup raspberries
2 tsp. lemon juice
½ cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon, plus additional for sprinkling
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
½ Tbsp. Grade B maple syrup (in each ramekin)
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Whisk the flour and salt together in a bowl.
• Using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut in the butter and oats, mixing until the butter is the size of peas. Set the oat and flour mixture aside.
• Toss the peaches, raspberries, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch in a bowl until combined.
• Pour the fruit mixture evenly into 8 small ramekins. (You can also use an 8-inch or larger baking dish.)
• Drizzle maple syrup over the fruit mixture.
• Sprinkle with the oat and flour mixture.
• Sprinkle extra cinnamon on top.
• Bake for about 30 minutes, or until bubbling and evenly browned on top.
• Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.
This article appears in July 2012.
