Cherry Peach Almond Crisp

In the past month, I started a new job and wrangled up a few more freelance design projects — both have been keeping me busy to say the least. And busy is GOOD–things are finally starting to shift and new paths are opening up. Yay! One of the downsides of being busy with life is that I have less time to come to this space. I’ve been cooking and baking for sure — just not photographing all of it. I’ve made some amazing vegetarian dishes from the beautiful and delicious cookbook, Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi– thanks to a great giveaway hosted by blogger friend Adrienne at Gastroanthropology.

It’s been a few weeks since my last post, and I realized during this break, how much I really enjoy and miss coming here. It is a sweet break from the work I do daily and it is also a great feeling to work on something that is truly my own. This blog is a constant work in progress and I love watching it change and evolve. I’m finally feeling like I’m settling into my new schedule and I’m looking forward to cooking, baking, shooting, and posting more often.

A couple of weekends ago, we had a visit with friends from the bay area. It was a perfect low key weekend filled with sun, beach time, and wandering around our local neighborhood cafes’ and markets. On Sunday morning, we took a walk to the Santa Monica Farmers Market to grab a quick bite — spinach, egg, basil, and feta filled crepes and sweet freshly squeezed orange juice to top it off. We also couldn’t help but grab a couple of pounds of fresh cherries to take home. Many of them disappeared quickly throughout the day. But I managed to save enough to pair with some peaches for these impromptu crisps.

These crisps are not your typical oat and flour topped desserts. I used almond flour, butter, brown sugar, and chopped sliced almonds to add crunch. The result is a slightly different texture that still yields crispness and adds rich nutty flavor from the almonds. If you are looking for the classic crisp or crumble topping this may not be the recipe for you. However, if you want something different that does not contain refined flour this is perfect.

The great thing about crisps, crumbles, and the like is their ease and versatility — it’s hard to go wrong….and you can use any combination of your favorite in season fruit. Can it get any better than that?

Cherry Peach Almond Crisps

Filling:

2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and halved
1 cup fresh peaches, cut into bite size chunks
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp arrowroot starch

* Alternately orange juice and zest can be used in place of lemon.

Topping:

1/3 cup almond flour
1/3 cup sliced almonds, chopped
1/4 tsp vietnamese cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp butter, cold

Preheat your oven to 350.

Prepare the cherries by pitting and slicing into halves. Set aside into a bowl. Slice the peaches and add to cherries. Add the zest, the lemon juice, vanilla, and brown sugar and stir to combine. Add the arrowroot and incorporate into fruit mixing well. Let stand while you make topping.

Combine the almond flour, chopped almonds, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt into a bowl. Slice cold butter into small pieces and with your fingers, work butter into the mixture until it is throughly incorporated. Mixture will be slightly sticky rather than the usual coarse crumbly mealy texture.

Divide the fruit between four ramekins. Cover each with an equal amount of topping sealing fruit into ramekin. Place ramekins on baking sheet to catch juice. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top and juices begin to bubble.

Tagged as: almond, Baking, cherry peach almond crisp, crumble, Dessert, flour, flourless, fresh cherry desserts, fresh produce, Gluten-Free, lemon, sweet