peach (apricot in our case) crisp with brown butter crumble topping

Peach Crisp with Brown Butter Crumble

Serves 6.  This was in the July 2015 issue of Food and Wine magazine and we repurposed it to use part of our apricot crop.  This can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight.  Reheat before serving.

            Peach Crisp:

            butter to grease pan

            2 lbs. ripe peaches, pitted and cut into ¼” wedges

            ¼ c. + 2 Tbs. sugar

            3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

            1 Tbs. cornstarch

            pinch of kosher salt

            Brown Butter Crumble:

            1 c. flour

            ½ c. quick cooking oats

            ½ c. granulated sugar

            ¼ c. turbinado sugar (raw sugar)

            2 Tbs. brown sugar

            ½ tsp. kosher salt

            ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

            1 stick ( ½ c.) butter, cut into tablespoons

            vanilla ice cream for serving

Make the crisp.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 2-quart baking dish.  In a large bowl, toss peaches with sugar and lemon juice.  Cover and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and peaches have released some of their juices.  Drain peaches in a colander set over a small saucepan, then return peaches to the bowl.

Add ¼ c. water and the cornstarch to peach juices and bring to a simmer.  Cook, whisking constantly, until thickened and translucent, about 1 minute.  Add thickened juices and pinch of salt to the peaches and toss to coat.  Scrape into the buttered baking dish.

Meanwhile, make the brown butter crumble.  In a medium bowl, whisk flour with oats, the 3 sugars, salt and cinnamon.  In a small saucepan, cook butter over moderately low heat, stirring, until deep golden and nutty-smelling, about 8 minutes.  Scrape this brown butter and any browned bits at bottom of pan into the flour mixture and stir until well combined.

Press topping into small clumps and scatter over the peaches.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crisp is golden and bubbling.  Transfer to a rack and let stand for 15 minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream.