I love fruit crisps. They are a perfect alternative to the more complicated fruit pie – there’s still warm sweet fruit and spices involved, just with a delicious sweet topping instead of a more neutral pastry underneath.
I’ve been making fruit crisps for a long time. Usually I rely on the fruit crisp recipe from my favorite cookbook, Fields of Greens, by Annie Somerville. Somerville opened one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco, Greens. I first ate there when I was a practicing vegetarian – the food is amazing and the views are spectacular, looking out the big windows toward the Golden Gate Bridge.
Even meat-eating friends at that time loved Greens. No one felt like anything was missing.
These days, even though I’m a committed omnivore, I find the recipes from Fields of Greens are satisfying. I still use the recipes regularly – the yeasted tart dough for special occasions, the pizza dough from time to time, and pancakes most weekends. Paging through the cookbook again as I write this, I landed on the lasagne with mushroom-port sauce recipe – making it is an all day affair, but the result is spectacular. I think I’ll have to make it soon.
Anyway, back to the crisp. I love this recipe because it’s not too sweet to begin with and it always turns out great. This year, I made the crisp topping with a few changes, and I’m happy to say… it turned out great!
In the recipe, I replaced the cup of white flour with sprouted wheat flour. I also switched the 1/4 cup of brown sugar and 1/4 cup of white sugar with a half cup of sucanat; I also used a couple of tablespoons of sucanat on the fruit. I used pasture butter, too, which is much better for you than conventional butter. Finally, I left out the nutmeg because even though I like it, our resident picky eater does not.
The texture of this crisp topping is a little… heartier. Crunchier. But perfectly appropriate for a crisp. I also found it took 40 minutes to cook enough and brown a bit on the top.
One thing about the sprouted flour vs. white flour – it really seemed at first like everything wasn’t going to bind together enough, that it would stay too dry. I think it takes a little more massaging of the butter into the flour to moisten everything up. I used frozen butter cut into chunks, but perhaps grating frozen butter into the flour would be a help.
In the end, everything was fine, texture-wise, with topping.
This crisp is delicious hot, delicious at room temperature, and delicious right out of the refrigerator. Of course, vanilla ice cream would go well with the crisp, but I wonder how crème anglaise might do well with it (probably delicious).
I love the adjustments worked out in this recipe, and am very happy to have a terrific dessert with unrefined sweetener, not to mention properly prepared grains (sprouted flour).
adapted from the Apple-Rhubarb Crisp recipe from Fields of Greens
This works with any kind of stone fruit, berries, rhubarb, or apples. Also try mixing it up when it comes to nuts – I love using walnuts, but almonds or hazelnuts would be good, too.
Crisp Topping
1 cup sprouted flour
1/2 cup sucanat
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/4 pound (1 stick/8 tbs) cold butter
1/4-1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Mix the flour, sucanat, sea salt, and cinnamon together. Add the butter and mix with your fingers or cut with a pastry cutter (or two knives) until everything is combined and crumbly. Mix in the chopped walnuts. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Fruit
2 pounds fruit, pitted and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (peel of you feel the need)
2 tbs sucanat
Toss the fruit with the sucanat, and put in a 9×9 inch pan (a 7×11 inch pan works, too).
Sprinkle the fruit evenly with the topping. Put in the oven and bake for 40 minutes, or until the juices bubble and the topping starts to brown.
Serves 6-8
Did you make your own sprouted flour? Just curious how to acquire it.
I wish I could make my own sprouted flour! At some point I will. For now, I buy the Essential Eating sprouted wheat flour packaged and distributed by Shiloh Farms. I buy it at my favorite natural foods store, Fresh Start, in Astoria. I’ve seen it lots of places, though – check your local natural/health foods store. Whole Foods/Wild by Nature will likely carry it, too