Archive for the ‘Crisps and Other Fruit Desserts’ Category
Rhubarb is a wonderful springtime fruit to work with, both because of its beautiful pink color and the bright, tangy flavor that it brings to a recipe. Rhubarb is often paired with sweeter fruits, such as strawberries, to balance out its very sharp flavor. Strawberries are a very common pairing, but raspberries also make a fantastic pairing with rhubarb and I used them in this Rhubarb and Raspberry Cobbler.
This cobbler has a mixture of raspberries and rhubarb in the filling. The filling of the finished cobbler has a lovely sweet-tart flavor and a bright red color from the berries. The rhubarb lends an almost lemony flavor to the filling, while the raspberries seem intensely sweet and jammy by comparison. Cobblers can have a variety of different toppings, and this one has a cake-like topping that seems to sop up some of the juice from the filling. A sprinkling of sugar on top gives it a nice crunch (be sure to use a toothpick when checking this cobbler for doneness), and otherwise it is soft and tender, with a hint of vanilla and ginger in it.
Fresh, in-season rhubarb is the best choice for this recipe. Look for rhubarb that is brightly colored and crisp, with unblemished stalks. While rhubarb can actually come in a variety of colors, from pale green to dark red, the redder stalks give a much prettier look to this dish if you have the option of choosing them. The raspberries can be fresh or frozen, and frozen berries do not need to be defrosted before using. Frozen rhubarb tends to come in very large chunks and takes a long time to cook, which is why it is not my idea choice for this cobbler. IF you do opt for both frozen berries and rhubarb, the baking time of this recipe would be extended by about 5-10 minutes to ensure that the topping cooks all the way through (be sure to check with a toothpick before taking it out of the oven).
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A slice of fresh cherry pie that is freshly baked is just about irresistible – especially when you were the one baking it and your kitchen still smells like home-baked pie. Cherry cobbler and cherry crisp are right up there, too, when it comes to tempting cherry desserts. They’re easier to make and they’re always available when they’re hot from the oven (while cherry pies typically need to cool for the filling to thicken).
These Cinnamon Streusel-Topped Cherry Crisps are individual desserts that pack a whole lot of cherry flavor into a very small package. Juicy cherries make up the main part of the dessert, of course, but a crisp and buttery streusel topping is what makes it a winner for me. The topping is made with oatmeal, ground cinnamon and brown sugar, with some chopped pecans tossed in for extra crunch and flavor. A pinch of salt adds just the right amount of contrast to the topping, so you can really taste every element alongside those cherries. Almonds would also work very well in the streusel, as they tend to be a great match with cherries.
Cherries are a fruit that are typically in season late in the spring and summer, but they keep very well and I have them in my kitchen all year round. I keep frozen cherries in the freezer and jars of good-quality cherries (packed in cherry juice) in the pantry for any occasion that I might need them for. They both work just as well as fresh cherries will – and since they seem to release a little more juice than fresh cherries, you can even end up with a slightly saucier cherry crisp. Any kind of cherries will work, from sour cherries to black cherries. I personally tend to go with the sweeter black cherries, but a mix of different types will produce an outstanding dessert.
I like these best when they’re fresh from the oven, but they keep very well and leftovers are terrific for breakfast. I heat up my leftovers for a few seconds in the microwave to warm them up again before re-serving.
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Apples are a popular choice for crisps and cobblers, but pears are also an excellent fruit for making this type of dessert. Pears tend to be juicier and more tender than apples, especially once they’ve been baked. That means that when they’re put into a fruit dessert like a crisp, they bake up very quickly and produce a fruit filling that has a lot of moisture to contrast with a streusel topping.
These Individual Pear Crisps with Oatmeal Streusel are easy to make and even easier to eat. The filling is made with fresh pears, a little bit of sugar and just a touch of flour to help thicken all of the pear juices. The topping is made with flour, oatmeal and brown sugar. I prefer to use quick cooking oatmeal, which is made of regular rolled oats that have been coarsely chopped because I think that it gives the best texture. You will still get good results with regular rolled oats if that’s what you have in your pantry. The streusel topping turns golden brown in the oven and has a nice crunch to it. It is buttery, with just the right amount of sweetness, and has a lot of flavor in spite of its short ingredient list, and is an amazing flavor match for the tender, juicy pears.
As with most cobblers, the amount of fruit that you use is not critical and you can use a bit more or a bit less than I’ve suggested in the recipe (which is why I simply suggested the number of pears that you might want to use, rather than the weight). Sometimes I’ll stretch the streusel topping by using more pears and turning six servings into eight. Other times, I’ll just make four and save the remaining streusel in a baggie in the fridge for a few days for another batch.
These crisps are the best when they’re still slightly warm from the oven and served with vanilla ice cream. Leftovers also make a very good breakfast dish if they’re warmed in the microwave (they should be stored in the fridge, covered) and topped with a bit of milk or cream before serving.
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I like to think of this Peach and Strawberry Cobbler as my end-of-summer cobbler. This particular batch of cobbler was baked with beautiful fresh strawberries and a mix of perfectly ripe yellow and white peaches. The strawberries are probably some of the last top-notch berries I’ll get this season – hence the end-of-summer feeling to the dessert. It also helps that the colors in the cobbler remind me of the sunset, with the yellow and orange tones of the peaches and the more vivid red of the strawberries.
The cobbler has a lightly sweet, buttery topping above a mix of sweet and very tender fruits. I didn’t add too many extra spices or too much sugar, as I really wanted the peaches and strawberries to be the stars of this dessert and they give plenty of flavor on their own. The topping for this cobbler is a lot like a scone dough, where butter is cut into a flour and sugar mixture and then stirred together with some milk to bind it. Before the milk is added, I set aside a small amount of the flour mixture and tossed it in with the peaches and strawberries. This added a little extra sweetness and just enough flour to help thicken the juices of the fruit as the filling cooked.
I used fresh peaches and fresh strawberries for this cobbler, and I will almost always use fresh berries in a cobbler when I have them available. That said, you can definitely use frozen fruit in this recipe and get excellent results. Frozen sliced peaches can be used without defrosting, as can frozen strawberries. If possible, however, chop any very large strawberries into smaller pieces. You can also mix things up by using frozen raspberries or blackberries alongside the peaches, and nectarines can make a great substitution for the peaches, as well.
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A pudding cake is a type of cake that separates into layers when it is baked, resulting in a fluffy cake layer on top of a thick, pudding-like layer. Chocolate pudding cake is a classic example, but pudding cake can come in a whole variety of flavors and can even be made with fresh fruit. In fact, a fruity pudding cake can be even better than a similar fruit cobbler would be because the pudding cake will develop a thicker, richer sauce around all that juicy fruit than most cobblers will provide.
This Blueberry Pudding Cake is a good example because it is lot like a blueberry cobbler – only better. Fresh blueberries line the bottom of the baking dish and they’re covered with a thick buttermilk cake batter that is not unlike the batter you might use to top off a fruit cobbler. The whole thing is covered with a sweet sauce (you could easily flavor this with orange juice or lemon juice, but I only wanted to highlight the blueberries here) and baked. It will be tempting to stir the sauce into the cake batter when you’re making the cake, but trust the recipe and simply pour it on top. The result is that the blueberries develop a thick, rich sauce around them underneath the lighter cake layer. The sauce makes the dessert moist, rich and very satisfying to eat. The sauce also makes the pudding cake an exceptionally good accompaniment for ice cream.
The cake has a good buttermilk flavor and hints of both vanilla and almond in it. The dessert is just sweet enough to highlight the richness of the blueberries without covering up any of their fresh flavor. Fresh blueberries are my preferred fruit for this cake when I have them, and I definitely recommend using them for the best results. Frozen berries will still produce a good finished product, but they may need a few minutes longer in the oven for the sauce to thicken enough.
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