I love baked fruit crisps any time of year. They are especially nice when fresh fruit is in season, but you can certainly make them all year round with frozen fruit. You can even use fresh fruit in the summer and create your own filling and either can them or freeze them. Crisps are similar to a pies, with pies we bake fruit with the sugar and spices until the fruit becomes soft and the liquids thicken into a nice thick sauce over the fruit, and of course it’s made with a rich, flaky crust on the bottom and many times on the top too. With a crisp we forget the pie crust, instead making a delicious crisp topping, comprising of butter, flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, spices and occasionally nuts. Using cold butter, you pinch all the ingredients together with a fork, fingers, or simply fill the ingredients in a ziploc bag and gently start pressing the butter into the flour, sugar and oats mixture. Using the sugars in the crisp topping allows the fruits to stay as true to their natural sweetness as possible. I usually just sprinkle about 1/4 a 1/3 cup sugar over the fruit, then I use he rich molasses like flavor in brown sugar for the crisp topping.
Many people who are gluten free are also dairy free, so you are probably wondering if their is a dairy free alternative, and the answer is yes. You have a couple choices, you can use dairy free margarine or dairy free buttery sticks, this still achieving that buttery goodness flavor. The other options are to either use Spectrum shortening or coconut oil, or a mixture of both. No eggs are needed, so the egg free people can enjoy crisps anytime without substitutions. Use gluten free certified oats in your crisps. If you are still sensitive to even the certified GF oats, then use a little more flour to achieve the same effect. Your filling can be any sort of fruit you have available at the time, from strawberry-rhubarb, apple, peaches and more. The recipe I am sharing with you today is my plum-apple crisp.
Our family moved last fall around Labor Day weekend and we were delighted to see we had a single plum tree. However, our tree had only a single plum hanging from it’s unpruned branches that were all tangled in a mess. I thought, either the previous owners picked the plums before we moved in, or this tree is going to take a lot of pruning to get it ready for a fruitful harvest next year. Unfortunately, my health issues, brain surgery etc., I was unable to prune the tree, so I had doubt in my mind it would bear any fruit. Low and behold summer came and dozens and dozens of buds appeared. This past week, the beautiful shades of purple plums and a light frost, they were ready to be picked. I couldn’t believe how much fruit this tree produced, even with the tree being a mess of unpruned branches and branches going every which way. I am overjoyed that it still gave us a big bounty of deliciously sweet fruit. First we shared our harvest with friends, and now it’s time to BAKE and my first plum recipe this year is my Plum and Apple Crisp, with more to come!
I chose to pair this crisp with an equal amount of plums and tart apples. Often cinnamon and nutmeg are used as spices in crisps, but this time of year I am drawn to the spice cardamom. Cardamom is one of the most ancient spices to record and can be traced back to Bible times. It is commonly used in East Indian cooking, and also used often in baked goods from the Scandinavian countries. It offers a wonderful warmth to baked dishes and strong aromatic smell. It’s most flavorful when ground straight from the pods, but I buy mine in a small quantities from the health food store and keep it in an airtight container. A little bit goes a long way. I think you will enjoy using it. I will share my Finish Pulla bread later so you can see how it tastes in a Finnish Bread.
Cardamom Spiced Plum & Apple Crisp
Ingredients
3 cups plums, pitted and halved. (Larger plums, quarter)
3 cups tart apples, peeled and diced (I used Fuji)
2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed orange juice (lemon juice okay)
2 tsp. vanilla
¼ cup organic sugar
3 Tbsp. Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour
½ tsp. cardamom
Crisp Topping
½ cup butter (dairy free margarine, Spectrum shortening, or coconut oil)
¾ cup Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour
¾ cup GF oats
¾ cup brown sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cardamon
pinch of salt
½ – 1 cup chopped pecans, optional
Directions
Preheat oven to 350º.
In as high sided pie pan or round non-stick cake pan, combine plums and apples. Drizzle fruit with orange juice and vanilla and toss evenly. Combine sugar, flour and cardamom and sprinkle over fruit and toss to coat evenly.
In a medium bowl, mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and if desired nuts. Then sliced up the butter in tablespoon slices and pinch the butter into the flour/oat mixture until it resembles coarse pea size crumbs. Be sure to work all of the butter into the mixture.
Then sprinkle, or pinch off little crumbs and layer over the top of fruit. Bake on center rack in oven for about 40-45 minutes. Check after about 30 minutes, if it is browning quickly, then place a piece of foil over the top to prevent it from burning. You do want a nice golden color.
GFM Tip You can place all of your crisp topping ingredients into a ziploc bag and work the butter into them and keep your hands clean!
GFM Tip Serves nicely warm, with a spoonful of real vanilla bean ice cream or drizzle with warm caramel sauce.
Shopping List
Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour
Plums and Apples (Pick them fresh if you can!)
Cardamom
Gluten Free Oats
Organic Sugar (Best price at Costco or order here at Amazon)
Spectrum Shortening (Palm oil shortening, non hydrogenated for dairy free option, soy free too!)
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Cardamom Spiced Plum & Apple Crisp perfect for dessert any day of the week or at you favorite family gatherings.
Ingredients
- 3 cups plums, pitted and halved. (Larger plums, quarter)
- 3 cups tart apples, peeled and diced (I used Fuji)
- 2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed orange juice (lemon juice okay)
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- ¼ cup organic sugar
- 3 Tbsp. Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour
- ½ tsp. cardamom
- Crisp Topping
- ½ cup butter (dairy free margarine, Spectrum shortening, or coconut oil)
- ¾ cup Mama’s Almond or Coconut Blend Flour
- ¾ cup GF oats
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. cardamon
- pinch of salt
- ½ – 1 cup chopped pecans, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- In as high sided pie pan or round non-stick cake pan, combine plums and apples. Drizzle fruit with orange juice and vanilla and toss evenly. Combine sugar, flour and cardamom and sprinkle over fruit and toss to coat evenly.
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and if desired nuts. Then sliced up the butter in tablespoon slices and pinch the butter into the flour/oat mixture until it resembles coarse pea size crumbs. Be sure to work all of the butter into the mixture.
- Then sprinkle, or pinch off little crumbs and layer over the top of fruit. Bake on center rack in oven for about 40-45 minutes. Check after about 30 minutes, if it is browning quickly, then place a piece of foil over the top to prevent it from burning. You do want a nice golden color.
Notes