Spoon & Shutter

From Spoon: Let me say right off the bat that the photos for this post were taking by me with my new phone, so don’t blame Shutter. We both recently got iPhones, and I also have a new Mac (finally crossed over from PC-dom) and I’m having fun tinkering around with all the photo possibilities. It’s amazing to me that the iPhone takes far better shots than my Canon point-and-shoot, and now that I have iPhoto I can pretend I know what I’m doing to manipulate them.

OK, enough techno-talk and on to the main event, a luscious summer fruit crisp. The original recipe, from the terrific book, “Seriously Simple,” by Diane Rossen Worthington, called for raspberries and peaches, but since it’s high blueberry season here in New Jersey, I used our big, fat, juicy blues instead of raspberries (which I couldn’t find in the market anyway). You could of course substitute nectarines and blackberries, too.

What makes this crisp extra-good is the layer of creme fraiche slathered over the fruit and under the crunchy topping. It melts into the fruit and adds a tangy, custard-y richness that plays beautifully off the other textures and flavors. I added a little more nutritional value by making the crisp crumbs with white-whole wheat flour instead of the original white flour. This fits my summer dessert criteria perfectly – fruit-focused and simple to put together.

Summer Fruit Crisp with Creme Fraiche Filling

Serves 6-8

3 cups fresh blueberries

6 peaches, pitted and cut into 2-inch pieces (the recipe says to peel them, but I didn’t bother)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup creme fraiche

1 cup white-whole wheat flour

6 tbsp. packed dark brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375 and butter a 9 x 12 baking dish. In a large bowl, mix the fruit the all-purpose flour and the granulated sugar together until the fruit is well coated. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish.

Spread the creme fraiche evenly over the fruit mixture.

In a medium bowl, combine the white-whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt and lemon zest. Add the vanilla and melted butter and stir to make a soft dough. Crumble the mixture evenly over the top of the fruit and creme fraiche.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the fruit is cooked through. Serve warm.