Plum Perfect

I really enjoy good plums.  I love how when you bite into a perfectly ripe plum you get a little resistance from the skin and then the snap when you bite through to the flesh.   I love the contrast in tastes between the skin and the flesh.  Perfection.

I also really love height of perfection raspberries.  What I don't love are the raspberries sold in the clamshell in the middle of December.  But now that it's summer and really perfect raspberries are available at my favorite farm stand, I'm really loving raspberries.

Why not do something with both?

So, here it is!  My take on plum crisp:  Plum and Raspberry Crisp.  This dessert has everything going for it.  Perfect fruit.  A crunchy topping, and a little booze.  A little vanilla ice cream to top it off and you're done.  What more could you want?  (Well, maybe the same delicious recipe without the calories.)

I don't often say that you have to make something but I really think you should try this.  Have people over and serve it for dessert.  That way you get to show off you're stellar cooking skills and you won't have to eat the whole thing yourself.

Recipe:  Plum and Raspberry Crisp



Ingredients:

2 pounds plums, pitted and quartered

2 half pints raspberries

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons framboise liqueur


For the topping:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced


Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions:


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


For the fruit, in a large bowl, combine the plums, raspberries,brown sugar, flour, and framboise. Pour the mixture into a 12 by 8-inch shallow baking dish.


For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, walnuts, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (You can also use a food processor on the "pulse" setting.)  Mix (or pulse) on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the plum mixture.


Bake the plum crisp for 40 to 45 minutes, until the plums are bubbling and the top is browned. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.