Traditional Fruit Crisp

Everyone loves the classic cobbler, and what's great about this one, is that I use a mixture of frozen and fresh fruit! Now of course you don't have to use frozen, but think about it.....frozen fruit is fruit that's been harvested while it's at it's ripest, and then flash frozen so you can use it anytime of the year! And.....I royally hate peeling and slicing peaches, to be honest, so that might be the real reason for the frozen fruit :) So, here's a wonderful classic that is so easy, you can whip it up last minute! All the ingredients are one's you'd have already around the house. I've also experimented with many different combos of fruit, so just use what you have hanging around! The bulk of this recipe came from my wonderful mother-in-law, Beth, and from my grandmother-in-law, Duval Lee. Love ya'll and thanks!

Crisp Topping
- 6 tbsp butter, room temp
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1/4 cup rolled oats
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans (or sub with more oats)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all topping ingredients together with hands, mashing, until coarse and crumbly. Set aside while putting the fruit part together.

Fruit Part (for lack of a better name...)
- peaches - frozen or fresh, enough to fill a small casserole dish
- a small package of blueberries
- 1/2 cup sugar, more or less based on the sweetness of the fruit
- 2 tbsp flour

Mix all of the fruit filling ingredients together. Just as a note, if you plan on using frozen peaches, I've found it's nice letting them come to room temperature before mixing with the other filling ingredients so you can drain off some of the excess liquid, or you'll end up with soup! Put the fruit mixture into a buttered baking dish or small casserole dish, and top with the crumble mixture. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the juices are bubbling and the topping is slightly browned and crisp! Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.....mmmmmmmm!

 

Fruit Tart

Decided one day to shake things up a bit and make something less cake-like.  And thus the fruit tart was born.  Hope you enjoy!

Crust:
-1 box (ish) of crumbled Nilla Wafers
-1 stick of butter (1/2 cup), melted
-1/8 cup of sugar
-dash of cinnamon

Mix all crust ingredients with fork and press firmly into a tart pan, forming a firm bottom and sides for the tart.  Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until you can smell it and its golden brown.  Set aside to cool, or pop it in the fridge or freezer to move things along faster..

In the mean time...

Topping:
-8 oz package of Neufantel cream cheese (it's less fat but tastes the same)
-1/4 cup low fat sour cream
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 cup of sugar (or to taste)
-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whisked to "whipping cream" consistency
-Fresh fruit, cut into smaller pieces to display on tart.  I used strawberries, raspberries, kiwi, and bananas.

Beat the cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla, and sugar together to a smooth consistency.  Fold in the whipping cream into the mixture using a spatula.

Spread the topping over the cooled tart and arrange fruit as desired.  Best if served immediately, but if not, sprinkle some lemon juice over fruit before arranging fruit over the tart - this helps the fruit (especially bananas) not brown with time.  Keep refrigerated.  Enjoy!