Nectarine And Three Berry Crisp
The guys and I went to visit my second oldest son Cameron and his wife Tiffany last week. They live in Tennessee with a mountain view and it’s so darn pretty it will make your eyeballs bleed. No, I’m not sure why your eyeballs would bleed. Don’t pressure me for logic here. I have a headache.
But…while we were there, Cam made a yummy dinner one night of a smoked brisket and some homemade refrigerator pickles (recipe coming soon, since I swiped it from him). For dessert that night, we had a Smores Pie my daughter in law made (also recipe coming soon. it was SO good!) and I also whipped up a three berry and nectarine crisp. I made one similar to this last Summer, but this one was much better, I have to say. It wasn’t as sweet, I’ve perfected my streusel since then (If I do say so myself) and I omitted the lime cream I served with that one and we had it with ice cream. So, so delicious and seasonal. This also doesn’t use as many nectarines, but instead I upped the berries.
If you don’t like nectarines, go ahead and use peaches. I prefer nectarines myself because they aren’t fuzzy, making it unnecessary to peel the fruit (thus saving time and also adding a bit of fiber to the crisp), plus they tend to be sweeter and juicier. But you do you.
You know the drill…. at least you SHOULD know it after five years of hearing me say it. Get to cooking! 😀
Nectarine And Three Berry Crisp
- Streusel-
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, refrigerator cold and sliced thin
- Fruit filling-
- 3 ripe nectarines, cut into bite sized chunks
- 1 6 ounce carton fresh blackberries
- 1 6 ounce carton fresh raspberries
- 1 dry pint fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup – 2/3 cup sugar (if the fruit is nice and sweet, go for the lower amount)
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 3 quart baking dish; preferably a glass one, as metal pans can react with the fruits and leave the filling with a grayish tinge, plus metal with fruit can have an off flavor.
- Make your filling- In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients except the vanilla. Stir thoroughly but gentle so as to not mash the berries. Sprinkle the vanilla over the top and carefully stir it in. Pour the filling into the prepared pan and make the streusel
- In a medium bowl, combine all the dry ingredients for the streusel. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Get it barely cut in, then it’s easier if you use your fingers to finish. Just grab the streusel and kind of rub it between your fingers and thumb to help combine the ingredients. You want to end up with pieces ranging from pea sized to quarter sized.
- Note- do NOT use warm butter. The butter has to be cold for streusel to work. Otherwise, it all melts when baked rather than ending up as nice crunchy chunks.
- Sprinkle the streusel over the top of the crisp. If you don’t want to use it all (but why not?), just freeze what you don’t use.
- Bake at 350 degrees until the top is golden brown and the fruit filling is thickened and bubbly, about 35 to 45 minutes.
- Serve warm, preferably with a big old scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!
