Author Notes
I do my fair share of blueberry-by-the-handful and peach-over-the-sink eating, but once I’ve gotten my immediate fill, I turn to heat, and its power to raise these fruits to new heights. I love pie as much as the next girl, but pie requires advanced planning. Crisps, on the other hand, are simple and can be banged together in minutes.
If you don’t have vanilla powder, use one scraped vanilla bean. (Or, skip the vanilla in favor of cinnamon, nutmeg, or cardamom.) And feel free to use the stone fruits and berries you have on hand: raspberries, apricots, nectarines, blackberries, currents, and cherries would all work well. If you don’t have coconut flour, you can use all regular. Conversely, if you are gluten free, stick with the coconut flour. Personally, I like the mix of the two, which yields a quiet coconut flavor that plays well with fruit.
Serve with ice cream, cream, yogurt, or as it is. I love it cold for breakfast the next morning. —Cristina Sciarra
Ingredients
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3 cups blueberries
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3 large peaches
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1/8 teaspoon vanilla powder (or 1 scraped vanilla bean)
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3 tablespoons (40 grams) + 5 tablespoons (75 grams) sugar
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1/3 cup (45 grams) flour
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1/3 cup (40 grams) coconut flour
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6 tablespoons (80 grams) cold unsalted butter
Directions
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Heat the oven to 425F/218C. Meanwhile, wash and dry the blueberries; pick out any very sad looking ones. Add the blueberries to a large mixing bowl. Peel the peaches over the mixing bowl, to catch any falling juice. (The riper the peach, the easier it will be to peel. You could also keep the peels on, if you prefer.) Discard (or snack on, I won’t tell) the peach skins, and then slice each peach into the bowl. Add the vanilla powder and 3 tablespoons of the sugar to the bowl; use your hands to gently toss the vanilla and sugar with the fruit.
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In another, medium bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar and the two flours. Cut the butter into the bowl. With your fingers, smoosh the butter into the dry mixture, until you have some pea, some lima bean-sized, scraps of butter.
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Pour the fruit (along with any collected juices) into a 12 x 9-inch (or the equivalent) casserole dish. Scatter the crisp topping evenly over top of the fruit. Move the casserole into the oven for 30 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the top is golden brown. Allow the crisp to cool for 10 minutes (if you can) before enjoying.
Cristina is a writer, cook, and day job real estate developer. She studied literature, holds an MFA in Fiction Writing, and completed the Basic Cuisine course at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. She lives in Jersey City with her husband--a Frenchman she met in Spain--and their sweet black cat, Minou. Follow her writings, recipes, publications and photography at theroamingkitchen.com.
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