The best flavor combination, topped with buttery cinnamony, crispy oats, and served with double cream
The moral of the story: summer never has to be over, at least flavor-wise. We had a rough year for peaches, brought on by the great freeze early in the spring that wiped out many farmers' entire stone fruit harvest for the year. Talk about devastation. I was lucky enough to grab enough peaches this summer to make me happy, and then the peach lady announced it was their last week— peaches done for the season — I made hard and fast plans to LOAD UP. How many peaches is too many peaches? Asking for a friend.
I am not a canner, and I don’t eat enough jam to make that the project for all these peaches. I decided to freeze them, knowing they would come in handy for a dessert of some sort in the depths of winter. If you still have access to fresh peaches, get some and make this recipe ASAP — or freeze them now and your future self will thank you later.
Peach and raspberry is my favorite flavor combination as far as fruit goes. The peaches are sticky sweet and the raspberries rich and tart; not to mention they look stunning together. But if you have an affinity for blackberries, boysenberries, strawberries, or even snozeberries, please swap in your favorite berry.
I learned a secret for looking like the best host on the planet from my friend's mom in England. Freeze your fresh fruit (like I've been saying), and make and freeze the crisp topping separately. Then, whenever you're ready, assemble the fruit and topping and bake until bubbling and brown. We'd all been out rambling the English countryside for hours, and had just finished a beautiful home-cooked meal, when she whisked around the corner with the most delicious dessert ready to be devoured. We were left satisfied yet perplexed at how she seemingly made this dessert appear out of thin air.
Ingredients:
6 cups fresh peaches, sliced (see note for frozen)
2 cups fresh raspberries (see note for frozen)
1 T fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
2 T sugar
1 T cornstarch (see note for frozen fruit)
1 T butter
Topping:
2 cups rolled oats
6 T flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
Serve with a heaping spoonful of double cream
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Make the crisp topping: Stir together oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Using your hands, work the butter into the oat mixture until you have large clumps of topping. Put in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble.
Make the filling: In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and cornstarch — this keeps the cornstarch from clumping. In a large bowl, add your fruit (fresh or frozen), lemon zest, and lemon juice. Sprinkle the sugar-cornstarch mixture over the fruit and toss everything together.
Butter a 9x13 casserole dish. Add the filling and top with the oat mixture. Set your casserole dish on a sheet tray to catch any overflowing juices.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling at the edges and the topping is brown. (see note for frozen)
Let the crisp rest for 15 minutes — otherwise you’ll be attempting to eat scalding hot sugar.
Serve warm with a spoonful of double cream. Ice cream, whipped cream, or full-fat yogurt is also nice.
Notes:
How to freeze peaches: Remove the stone and slice peaches. Arrange them on a piece of parchment or nonstick mat on a sheet tray in a single layer — overlapping peaches will stick together; use multiple sheet trays or freeze in batches. As soon as the peaches are hard, throw them in a freezer bag and label with the date.
How to freeze raspberries: Same as the peaches, just no slicing involved. Arranging in a single layer is important here; it saves you from chiseling off chunks of berry in the future.
Baking frozen peaches & raspberries: Add an extra tablespoon of cornstarch. Frozen peaches give off more liquid, and the extra cornstarch helps the filling thicken and be less soupy. Do not thaw your peaches before baking — this will turn them into mush. Baking time will increase when using frozen fruit; keep an eye on the topping. If it’s browning before the fruit is bubbly, tent it with foil.
Sugar: If your fruit isn’t super sweet (sometimes life happens), add 2 tablespoons more sugar. I prefer the fruit flavor to shine, so I keep the filling on the less-sweet side.
Cheers,
Nicole | Butter Cult🧈
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