Peach, Plum and Blueberry Crisp

In northern Utah it is the season for peaches and plums. I think that one of the divine callings for those two fruits is to be made into cobblers and crisps. This particular Peach, Plum and Blueberry Crisp fulfills the definition of divine–just the right amount of sweet fruit vs. buttery crispy topping.

My daughter says that my blog has been reflecting my sweet tooth lately. I disagreed until I looked back over my last 7 posts. Humph. She’s right.

I go through phases. I’m sure that you do the same. Earlier this summer I went through a vanilla ice cream phase–not even the good stuff, either. I wanted heaping swirls of soft-serve vanilla ice cream in a sugar cone from a local hamburger joint. Of course I would hate myself afterwards, but in the moment, it was the best tasting confection ever.

Speaking of vanilla ice cream, one of my sisters used to work as a caregiver for the elderly and people with handicaps. She had a client who swore by vanilla ice cream as a diuretic. The client had heart issues and consequently had serious problems with water retention. She’d send my sister out to get a carton of cheap vanilla ice cream which she claimed worked magic on her swollen feet and legs. Morning, noon and night she would eat vanilla ice cream. After about 3 days on the vanilla ice cream diet, the client would miraculously have lost all of her water weight. I, personally, have never known vanilla ice cream to have diuretic qualities, but heck what a nice thought!

As wonderful as vanilla ice cream tastes on a cone or a spoon, it becomes like a back-up singer in a band whenever it is served on the side with a fruit pie, crisp or cobbler. In today’s recipe for Peach, Plum and Blueberry Crisp, the vanilla ice cream definitely is in the background. However, I think that it adds the do-wa, do-wa to the fabulous star of the show, the crisp. So, make sure to include it.

Peach, Plum and Blueberry Crisp a la mode. Remember that.

In the land of crisps and cobblers, I’m a crisp fan. I love the way the topping gets brown and crispy/crunchy. Often the topping recipes for crisps include oatmeal, as on this Apple-Pear Crisp, but this recipe does not. It has flour, brown sugar, salt and butter. As the topping bakes, the flour and butter turn a rich golden brown and take on an intoxicating nutty flavor–you know the one I’m talking about. It is a perfect foil for the fruit filling.

Ripe peaches, plums and blueberries carry beautiful natural sugars of their own, so I exercised some restraint on the amount of sugar used in this recipe. I did add some vanilla, cinnamon and a touch of nutmeg which created depth to the fruit filling. (I REFUSE to say “layers of flavor” or “another layer of flavor”. Refuse!) As if all the above was not enough, I also put melted butter in the filling. Shazam! It added the finishing touch.

There is just something so heavenly about the taste of a warm fruit crisp with cool vanilla ice cream melting into little vanilla streams and puddles.

Print Recipe

Peach, Plum and Blueberry Crisp

The softly crisp, nutty flavored topping is the perfect foil for the sweet fruit filling in this Peach, Plum and Blueberry Crisp. Vanilla, nutmeg and butter bring added depth to the fruit, creating a desire to linger-longer over dessert.

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Terri @ that's some good cookin'

Ingredients

For the Topping

• 1½ cups flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
• ½ cup butter, melted

For the Fruit Filling

• 4 cups peeled and sliced ripe peaches
• 3 cups sliced red plums, peelings on
• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• ⅔ cup white sugar
• ½ cup white flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375-degrees F. Butter a 9- x 9-inch baking dish; set aside.

For the Topping

• In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and brown sugar. Pour ½ cup melted butter over flour mixture. By hand, stir until crumbly. Set aside while preparing fruit filling.

For the Fruit Filling

• In a large mixing bowl, gently stir together the peaches, plums and blueberries. Pour vanilla extract and melted butter over fruit and fold together.
• In medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Pour over fruit and stir gently until sugar/flour mixture is well incorporated.
• Turn out fruit mixture into prepared baking dish; distribute evenly. Crumble topping over fruit. Bake for 45 minutes until hot and bubbly and topping is deep golden brown. If topping is browning too quickly, lay a piece of aluminum foil over the topping without sealing the edges.
• Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired. Store refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Notes

Blackberries or raspberries may be substituted for the blueberries.

Recipe inspired by Patchwork Cobbler

You may also like:

Apple-Pear Crisp

Berry Cobbler

Apple-Pear Dessert Pizza