Mixed Berries and Cherries Oatmeal Crisp

Mixed Berries and Cherries Oatmeal Crisp, straight from the oven.

Memory can be a fanciful and fickle thing. What I recall about my grandmother, my Babci, a kaleidoscope of images, vivid in excruciating detail yet filtered through a soft haze of so many years having trickled by, churn through my minds eye.  Her raspy laugh, slightly stooped stature mingles with her glasses and curly hair.  Babci and Dziade’s home was perched upon the top of a hill, and I recall their driveway seeming like it was headed straight up into the clouds when our humble family car dredged up the incline.  There were mossy ferns scattered throughout their woods and giant purple blossoms in the springtime that were so beautiful.  I associate certain dishes with Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners because other, even though I do not make them myself in my recent years.  Peirogis, a Polish dumpling filled with cheese and potato, Galumpki, rice and meat stuffed cabbage rolls topped with tomato soup, Kielbasa and Sauerkraut, and Clam Chowder were served in addition to the typical American holiday meals.  During summertime, I remember her making a plethora of fruit pies and crisps and cobblers because I know she had a pretty extensive garden, though I can not recall if it was mainly flowers or vegetables.

One of the qualities about myself that I have always taken for granted is my taste recall, and very specific snapshots of my past that a taste, a whiff of something tantalizing, a specific texture can evoke.  When I meander pass the bakery section in a store and catch a whip of berries baking, it immediately brings to mind my Babci.  My older brother loves confections made with blueberries especially, so often there was a blueberry pie, buckle, or crisp at summer visits.  I do not have her method of creating blueberry crisp, and as the end of summer rapidly was approaching I was craving a good fruit crisp and had a pile of fruit that needed to be utilized before it turned.

Mixed Berries and Cherries Oatmeal Crisp topped with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Researching the differences between a crisp, a crumble, and a cobblers interesting.  Throughout my reading and research, it turns out that crisps and crumbles are extremely similar, if not identical, in the ingredients used, but the method of preparation and the ratio of flour to oatmeal.  Crisps will have an almost granola type of crunch, and the topping will remain crispy even when inundated with vanilla bean ice cream.  Crumbles, on the other hand, have much more of a streusel like texture, a bit doughier, and not quite as much oatmeal used.

Since there was a little fruit farm residing in my fridge, I opted to make a mixed berry crisp and add in some cherries that were lurking on the door, hoping to not be forgotten.  I looked at many different ratios out there for fruit to sugar to thickener combinations, and I picked and chose what seemed like would be a good fit for the fruit I was using.  My first attempt contained blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and cherries, and I thought the viscosity of the fruit filling was a little thick.  The flavor was a little sweet, and the topping was a little doughy for my taste.  My Babci’s had a wonderfully crisp topping, so I posted about it and a friend mentioned that she completely melted her butter for the topping.  Voila!  I knew instantly that’s what my Babci must have done.

Reveling in the crispy, chunky, nuggets of the Oatmeal Crisp Topping.

With some tweaks to ratios, and adding in some lemon juice to help those raspberries temper the insane sweetness that blueberries melt into, the balance of tart, sweet, nuttiness, and viscosity of the fruit juices from the relaxed berries is sheer decadence.  Texturally each fruit lends its own voice to the dish while harmonizing with one another, and the very crispy oatmeal topping crackles delightfully between your teeth.  You can put this together in just over an hour, so it is a terrific option to bring to a get together with some vanilla bean ice cream or just on a lazy Tuesday night if you unexpectedly have a friend stop by.  It is not the exact crisp of my youth, but it is something spectacular to celebrate the end of berry season and the beginning of Autumn.  Plus, there is something magical in leaving a food memory intact - I know from experience that some childhood snacks that I revisited when older were ruined once I retried them.  (Little Debbie snack cakes, anyone?). 

Nothing tastes quite as good as Summer Fresh Berries in this Mixed Berries and Cherries Oatmeal Crisp.

Mixed Berries and Cherries Oatmeal Crisp

Author:  Iris Anna Gohn

Servings:  6-8

This Mixed Berries and Cherries Oatmeal Crisp pushes all the dog days of summer buttons.  It The fruit relaxes in their little jackets from the heat, and the blueberries melt while the cherries retain some of their dignity and shape, and it is topped nicely with a distant cousin to granola with this toothsome Oatmeal topping.  Lemon juice plays the alto line in this dish, bringing a note of complexity and brightness to keep both the fruit filling and the topping from becoming too saccharine. 

I highly recommend letting the crisp resting a minimum of 15 to 30 minutes after removing from the oven.  This allows the cornstarch to really do its magic and thicken the fruit juices that are released.  I cut into the crisp immediately after taking it from the oven and almost threw a fit, and then half an hour later immediately regretted pitching a fit as the fruit filling thickened to the perfect consistency.  

Serve this with Vanilla Ice Cream or Gelato.  It is a necessity that will complete your life.  The juxtaposition of the tender berries, the syrupy juices, crackly topping and cold, creamy vanilla ice cream are something to luxuriate in.

Ingredients:

For the Filling:

• 2 Cups Blueberries
• 1/2 Cup Raspberries
• 1/2 Cup Blackberries
• 1 Cup Strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 1 Cup Cherries, pitted and stems removed, cut into halves
• 2 Tsp fresh Lemon Juice
• 1/3 Cup Granulated White Sugar
• 2 1/2 Tbsp Cornstarch

For the Oatmeal Crisp Topping:

• 1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick) melted
• 1/2 Cup packed Light Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup packed Dark Brown Sugar
• 1/2 Tsp ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 Tsp Sea Salt, rounded
• 1 Tsp fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 Cup Rolled Oats
• 1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 F.  
2. In a large bowl, combine the blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, and cherries.  Then add the lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch.  Very gently fold together with a spatula until thoroughly combined.  Gently Pour fruit and juices into a 9 inch pie plate.
3. In another medium, microwave safe bowl, melt the butter.  Then add the dark and light brown sugars, cinnamon, sea salt, lemon juice, oats, and flour.  Mix thoroughly until everything is combined.  It will be thick with no excess flour at the bottom of the bowl.
4. Evenly distribute the Topping onto the berries.  I tend to leave a little mixture about 1/2 inch away from the sides of the edges so it allows the juices to bubble up freely.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes in the oven until topping is crisped and the berries have relaxed and released their juices.  45 minutes will allow the blueberries to retain a tiny bit more of their original shape, and 50 minutes will render them down a little bit more.  Depending on your own personal preference, either time will work fine.
6. Remove from oven and let sit for at least 15, preferably 30 minutes to allow the cornstarch to thicken up the filling properly.  Serve with vanilla ice cream.