I love fruit. Growing up in Brazil the fruit there was always very ripe and sweet. One of my favorite desserts was a fresh fruit salad. There were some fruits that we weren't able to get in Brazil though. Mostly the fresh berries and peaches. Every time we would come home to the United States, I would go crazy eating all the American fresh fruit. About 7 years ago I came across this wonderful recipe using two of my favorite American fruits- Blueberries and Peaches. Over time I made a few tweaks of my own. I am excited to share this recipe with you.
Before we head to the recipe I want to share with you something about the peaches themselves:
For several years I was intimidated to cook with peaches because they were so hard to peel. Little did I know there was a simple trick that made peeling a piece of cake.
Maybe all of you know this already and I was the last to find out, but I thought I'd share this easy 3 step process just in case there is someone else out there who was like me.
Step 1
Fill a large pan with water and bring it to a boil.
Drop your peaches into the boiling water for 30 seconds or less. If you are baking with them, as we are, a few more seconds won't hurt them. They'll just be a little cooked already.
Step 2
Dish them out with a slotted spoon, and drop them into another large bowl of ice water. They can stay there until you are ready to peel them.
Step 3
Take them out of the water, and the peelings just pull right off the peach. Now that is some easy peeling! It sure makes baking with peaches a cinch. IF your peelings are not coming off easily, drop them into the boiling water again for a little longer, then into the ice water--the peelings should peel off easily.
Now, on to our recipe.....
Blueberry Peach Crisp:
4 cups sliced peeled peaches
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
Mix the flour/sugar in with the peaches and blueberries. Toss to coat.
For the Crisp:
Mix together:
1 cup all purpose flour (minus 2 Tablespoons--used above)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Then mix in:
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
until crumbly.
Pour over the blueberry/peach mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.
Serve warm with ice cream or whipped topping.
Yields: 12 servings
P.S. You can substitute the peaches for apples - it is just as delicious.
