The smell of peaches reminds me of:
dusty, dirty sneakers. light coming through peach tree leaves. shade. drinking from the hose. wet jean shorts. caked mud. my yellow Sony sport walkman. that Counting Crows cassette tape i loved. my sister’s freckled nose. my dad’s hands. my mom’s laugh. sleeping in the sun in the car, half hearing adults talk. pie. pie pie pie pie pie. pie.
My family and I used to go pick peaches during summer months.
We never had fancy fruit during the year. We didn’t buy containers of raspberries. There were no pints of blueberries in my fridge. Those were too much of a luxury. We had bananas… endless amounts of boring bananas.
But! In the summer! We went peach picking. I remember it like a slow motion, montage movie scene in my head.
I like the keep the peach smell memories tucked away in my crazybrain… you know, to think about awesome things when not so awesome things are happening. Life tricks. I got em. I’m so good at life is downright amazing. Not true. At all… but I’ve got the peach smell memory situation tucked away in my brain just perfectly… for emergencies.
Fresh fruit crumbles are absolutely the most delicious summer dessert, considering the minimal amount of manpower that goes into their creation.
The better the fruit, the better the dessert. It’s as simple as that.
Oh! And don’t try to line up the square colored dots in this photo collage. Don’t do it. It’s just not worth it.
There are some rules to enjoying this dessert:
You’re not allowed to eat all the of crunchy, crumble topping off the top. Unless you live by yourself.. then you totally can.
You must eat this dessert with ice cream. Vanilla, preferred.
You must take a moment to appreciate the beautiful mauve color that this crisp bakes up into. It’s really quite lovely.
Lastly, this dish must be considered a breakfast, lunch, and dinner item… good for all occasions.
Fruit sweet. Oat-y crisp. Comforting summer. Ice cream required. Good(ness).
Oh! I should also tell you that I’m pretty much obsessed with crumbles. Here’s proof.
Peach Berry Vegan Crumbles. Pineapple Strawberry Crisp. Apple Crisp.
For your summer eatings.
Peach and Raspberry Crumble
makes 1 8×8-inch square baking dish
5-6 medium ripe peaches, sliced
1 cup fresh raspberries (if using frozen, just thaw and drain)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Place sliced peaches and raspberries in a square 8×8-inch baking dish and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, oats, spices, and salt. Add the butter and toss the mixture together with your hands. Break the butter up into the flour mixture until the butter is the size of small pebbles and oat flakes. This took me about 4 minutes.
Toss a generous handful (about 1 cup) of crumble topping into the peach and raspberry mixture. Toss loosely with your hands. Spread fruit evenly in the pan and top with the remaining crumble mixture. Bake until fruit is juicy and bubbling, and the top of the crumble is slightly browned and crisp, about 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and serve with vanilla ice cream. Crumble is delicious served warm and can be stored, covered, in the fridge and reheated in the oven or microwave for serving.
Katie
Joy, this recipe was a delight! I used oat flour instead of AP, reduced the sugar to half a cup and sprinkled a little brown sugar on top before putting it in the oven, and totally eyeballed the cinnamon and allspice — and it was *a*m*a*z*i*n*g*. I’ve been leaving little plates of crumble on people’s desks all around the office because we need a pick-me-up today.