I'm still buying big boxes of Italian plums, but we can eat only so much kuchen. Next on the agenda: plum crisp.I adapted the filling from a recipe on epicurious, and covered it with my favorite crisp topping.
Topping:
Topping:3/4 cup butter
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
Melt butter. Add remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly and spread in 9 x 13" pan. Bake at 350* until golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes (~30 min. total). Set aside (it will crisp as it cools).
Filling:
3 pounds Italian prune plums (~44)
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
4 tsp cornstarch
- Halve and pit plums. Cut into 8 chunks each.
- In a large skillet cook plums and sugar over medium heat, stirring, until sugar is melted.
- Combine water and cornstarch in small bowl or mixing cup. Stir into plum mixture and simmer, stirring, until liquid clears and thickens.
- Pour into 9 x 13" pan and bake about 30 minutes at 350*.
- Remove from oven. When mixture stops bubbling (or later), sprinkle with topping. Serve warm or cold.
Below is the filling shortly after removal from the oven:
And here is the completed crisp:
Okay, I can hear the complaining already: "Why should I bother to cook the topping separately? What a hassle! Why is she so picky? I always top the fruit before baking." Well, friends, I made my first batch the old way, and this is what it looked like: 
Not so pretty, huh? As the fruit cooked, it bubbled all over the topping. Most of it was gooey and chewy rather than crisp and light. (It didn't help that I made too much topping in the first place.) Cooking the streusel separately is well worth it, and isn't much extra effort. It can even be done (in its own pan) at the same time the fruit is cooking. Opening the oven to stir isn't a problem.And here is the completed crisp:Okay, I can hear the complaining already: "Why should I bother to cook the topping separately? What a hassle! Why is she so picky? I always top the fruit before baking." Well, friends, I made my first batch the old way, and this is what it looked like: Additional notes:
- You can add 1-3 tsp cinnamon to the topping.
- I made this twice, and had 43 and 44 plums in 3 pounds. Your plums' sizes may vary, so weight is a more reliable measure. If I make this again soon I'll try to remember to record the volume (in cups) of cut fruit.
- If there is more topping than you care for, don't sprinkle it all on the plums. Keep the extra in a container (mine is in the fridge) to sprinkle on ice cream or applesauce or whatever. It's hard to go wrong with brown sugar and butter...
- UPDATED 9/26: We (Joe and Marianna helped) made another today and had 8 cups of cut fruit.
- Another lesson learned the hard way: If you're going to take this to a friend's house, wait to put the topping on when you get there so the jiggling in the car doesn't make it sink. Waah...
2 comments:
Mmmmm... looks great! I know this is the method that Cooks' Illustrated uses too. I had actually looked up their crisp recipe this weekend, as I had a bounty of peach seconds again. I ended up trying their cobbler instead and was blown away - highly recommended for peaches! XO
I was non-specific about the peach count (used all I had) and number of mounds - just made sure they did not touch too much (I forgot the sugar spinkle at the end too - still great!)
Filling
2 1/2 pounds peaches , ripe but firm (6 to 7 medium)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (1 3/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon lemon juice from 1 lemon
pinch table salt
Biscuit Topping
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/3 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
2. For the filling: Peel peaches (see note), then halve and pit each. Using small spoon, scoop out and discard dark flesh from pit area. Cut each half into 4 wedges. Gently toss peaches and sugar together in large bowl; let stand for 30 minutes, tossing several times. Drain peaches in colander set over large bowl. Whisk 1/4 cup of drained juice (discard extra), cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt together in small bowl. Toss peach juice mixture with peach slices and transfer to 8-inch-square glass baking dish. Bake until peaches begin to bubble around edges, about 10 minutes.
3. For the topping: While peaches are baking, in food processor, pulse flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to combine. Scatter butter over and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, about ten 1-second pulses. Transfer to medium bowl; add yogurt and toss with rubber spatula until cohesive dough is formed. (Don't overmix dough or biscuits will be tough.) Break dough into 6 evenly sized but roughly shaped mounds and set aside.
4. To assemble and bake: After peaches have baked 10 minutes, remove peaches from oven and place dough mounds on top, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart (they should not touch). Sprinkle each mound with portion of remaining 1 teaspoon sugar. Bake until topping is golden brown and fruit is bubbling, 16 to 18 minutes. Cool cobbler on wire rack until warm, about 20 minutes; serve.
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