Peach and Nectarine Crumble |

So my baby brother graduated from high school last week. Er, maybe it was two weeks ago now. But either way. He’s the youngest. And now he’s (partially) grown. Which is weird for me, and possibly even weirder for my parents who now no longer have PTA meetings or Grad Nite planning to attend to after over twelve years of being a High School Parent. Seriously? Nuts.

So since this graduation was kind of a big deal, the end of an era and all of that, I made dessert for the party. Scratch, I made a LOT of dessert for the party. Three different kinds, plus whipped cream and I busted out the leftovers from my birthday cake. I also made homemade margarita mix. So yeah, it was a good party.

Also? This peach and nectarine crumble was a massive hit. Seriously. It went so fast I didn’t get any pictures of it all cut up! And I only got one tiny bite! People went nuts over these bars. And the people, they know what they’re talking about. Because that one bite.. oo baby. I’ll be making these again soon. They’re fabulous. Go make them now. Thanks.

PS: This would be a great recipe to make for Fourth of July, as it’s a) ridiculously easy b) filled with fruit and c) travels and keeps well. If you’re looking for more inspiration for the Forth how about some American flag cupcakes? Or perhaps homemade hostess cupcakes? Or maybe these peanut butter ones, or some rice krispy treats?

Peach and Nectarine Crumble (adapted from SmittenKitchen)

The original recipe I used was for a blueberry crumble. I’m sure that would be delicious as well. I’m thinking this would be excellent with basically any kind of fruit, you would just adjust the amount of lemon juice and cornstarch as needed depending on how juicy your fruit is. My peaches and nectarines were extremely juicy, so I used less lemon juice and a lot more cornstarch than the original recipe. As long as you don’t end up with soup, any fruit would work beautifully here, I think.

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks or 8 ounces)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of one lemon, plus juice of half the lemon
3 peaches and 4 nectarines; (or enough fruit to equal 3 1/2 to 4 cups… I just happened to have peaches and nectarines on hand.. you could use just peaches or just nectarines, or again, any fruit you like)
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch (plus more if necessary; I used about 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp)

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease a 9X13 inch pan.
Peel the peaches and nectarines and cut into smallish chunks. No need to be real precise. Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and one cup sugar. Mix in the salt and lemon zest. Using a fork or pastry cutter (which I totally stole one from my mom who had two and I’m so excited to use it at home..) cut in the butter and egg. The dough will be extremely crumbly and not look like dough at all. It’s awesome. Pat half the dough into the bottom of your prepared 9X13 pan.
In a medium bowl, mix remaining 1/2 cup sugar, lemon juice and cornstarch. Add in peaches/nectarines and their juices that have accumulated and mix well. Scatter (er.. pour?) this mixture evenly over the crust. Sprinkle remaining dough on top.
Bake for 45 minutes to one hour, or until top is barely golden brown. Allow to cool completely before cutting; we kept ours in the fridge overnight before serving. Eat and Enjoy!!