Rainier Cherry Crisp

Washington is full of beautiful fruits. From wild marionberries growing literally in our backyard, to apples, to these Rainier cherries. I absolutely love creating foods that come from locally sourced foods.

The summertime produces some beautiful foods and I knew I couldn’t leave these sweet and gorgeous cherries out of my rotation and made a cherry almond crisp.

Ingredients

Filling

• 5 cups fresh or frozen sweet cherries, pitted
• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch

Topping

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1/2 inch bits
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds

instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Butter 6 ramekins and set them on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. To make the filling: In a large bowl, stir together the cherries, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
3. In a separate small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle mixture over the cherries, then toss to coat. Divide the cherry mixture among the prepared ramekins.
4. To make the topping: In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Use a pastry cutter to work the butter into the oat mixture until pebbly. Gently stir in the almonds then divide the topping among the ramekins, covering the cherries.
5. Bake on the baking sheet until the topping is golden brown and juices bubble around the edges, about 20 minutes.
6. Cool at least 20 minutes, then serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream. Cover leftovers and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Rainier Cherry Crisp

Preheat oven to 375ºF. In a large bowl, add some rolled oats. Add some brown sugar to the bowl, and finally some ginger and cinnamon.

Place some softened, cubed butter in the bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the oat mixture.

The pieces should look pebbly. Then, stir in some slivered almonds. Place topping into the freezer until ready to use.

In a separate bowl, combine some cornstarch and then some granulated sugar. Stir to combine.

Wash, dry, and pit some cherries. Add in some lemon zest and lemon juice.

Then sprinkle the cornstarch and sugar mixture over the top of the cherries. Stir to coat cherries.

Butter some ramekins. Fill each ramekin evenly with cherry mixture.

Then top each ramekin with the topping mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes and serve warm.