Cherry Crisp
I took this recipe from King Arthur Baking (https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/cherry-crisp-recipe) and was very pleasantly surprised at how this turned out. It's so delicious yet remarkably easy to make. The dark brown sugar gives it a lovely caramelized flavor. The cinnamon and cardamom subtly elevate the flavor of the dish. The rolled oats and chopped almonds combine to give a wonderful textural contrast. And of course, the cherries bring everything together. Each component is simple but plays an important role in making this dish what it is. Serve with some vanilla ice cream / whipped cream and you have yourself a delightful dessert.
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 1 hr
Ingredients
for the topping
> rolled oats (1 cup)
> dark brown sugar (3/4 cup, packed)
> flour (1/2 cup)
> cinnamon (1 tsp)
> cardamom (1/4 tsp)
> salt (1/8 tsp)
> butter (6 tbsp, cold)
> chopped almonds (1/2 cup)
for the filling / fruit
> cherries (~1.5 lb, pitted)
> flour (2 tbsp)
> sugar (3/4 cup)
Instructions
1. Prepare the topping: mix together the oats, sugar, flour, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly.
2. Prepare the fruit: in a large mixing bowl, add the cherries, flour, and sugar and stir to lightly coat the fruit.
3. Butter a 9" x 9" pan, or an equivalent surface area of smaller pans. Spoon the fruit into the pan. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit.
4. Bake for ~30m, or until the fruit bubbles and the topping is brown.
5. Serve warm, ideally with a scoop of vanilla ice ream or freshly whipped cream
Notes/Tips:
> "Cutting in the butter" refers to the process of breaking cold butter into smaller and smaller chunks while coating the pieces of butter with dry ingredients. This notably does not fully incorporate the butter, leaving small pieces of butter intact before baking. It's similar to how you'd use butter in a pie crust.
> Definitely get a cherry pitter; it'll save you tons of time (and it's super satisfying to use)