We spent a quiet evening at home on Saturday for a change. Leftovers for dinner left me unsatisfied and at 8:00 p.m., craving something sweet, I scooted over to Publix in search of a quick dessert. The peaches looked great, and considering I’m still on a peach kick, I grabbed some along with a pint of blueberries. When I looked in my basket at the checkout counter, some of my favorite vanilla ice cream had mysteriously appeared!
When it comes to desserts, I’ll always go for fruit and some form of crust. So, at 8:30 I was back home and busy making a quick and easy peach blueberry crumble with a topping of oats, whole wheat flour, walnuts, brown sugar, and butter. Thirty minutes later a warm and buttery crumble topped with vanilla ice cream satiated my sweets urge.
On Sunday, I dropped by Whole Foods for a couple of items and as soon as I walked in the door and saw a display with bags of fresh, bright red cherries, I realized that cherry season has arrived. The minute I spotted the display and tasted a sample, I knew I had to get some, despite the outrageous price. With a fruit crumble still fresh in my mind, I made the easy decision to substitute cherries for peaches and blueberries and repeat the dessert for today’s post.
I know I might be dating myself when I say this, but every time I think about cherries, a scene from the movie, The Witches of Eastwick comes to mind. For those of you who’ve seen the movie, you’ll know the scene I’m talking about. For those who didn’t see it, I won’t go into detail in a post about food. It wasn’t pretty!
I have almost one of every kitchen gadget, but for some reason I’ve never invested in a cherry pitter. I usually eat the unadulterated fruit and spit out the pits. I wasn’t in the mood for cutting the cherries with a paring knife and fishing out the pits, so I did a little research to see what methods others have used to expedite the process. I found several suggestions, but the one that worked for me was to push the the thick end of a chopstick up through the bottom of the cherry. The pit magically came out the top. Voila!
The peach blueberry version of this dessert was completely satisfying, but I have to say that the fresh cherries proved to be a special treat. Maybe it’s because I can get peaches all summer long, but the cherry season is relatively short.
Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds fresh cherries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons for cherries
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, combine cherries, sugar, and cornstarch. Toss to combine.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together oats, walnuts, flour, brown sugar, and salt. Using a fork or your fingers, mix 4 tablespoons butter into dry ingredients until completely incorporated. Mixture should be crumbly.
4. Transfer cherries into a 7x11 baking dish. Cut 2 tablespoons butter into small pieces and distribute over cherries. Top cherries with streusel topping.
5. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on countertop for 15 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
https://southernboydishes.com/2014/06/17/cherry-crumble/You may also like:
Bill Harris
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I have this cherry crumble in the oven right now. I added almond extract to the cherry mixture. Can’t wait til it’s done! Thanks for recipe.
Jeff, great recipe! I made it last week and have a “birthday” crumble in the oven now. I do have to brag however , my cherries cost 3.50 a pound and I’ve got 6 pounds in the freezer!
These pictures are absolutely gorgeous, Bill! LOVE the close-up of the cherries! Thanks for the tip about using chopsticks to pit the cherries, I don’t have a fancy gadget either, so this will help a bunch!
Cherry crumble, peach blueberry crumble – I’ll take either one! Can we just forget the leftovers and have the crumble for supper? You bet!
I have a cherry pitter that I use several times a year. They’re not expensive and last a lifetime, so I figure it’s a good value — even though most of the year it sits unused. ๐ But it also works for pitting olives too, so that’s a bonus. Anyway, this is such a great crumble — I really need to try it. We’ve been gorging on cherries (even though they are pricey!), and this looks wonderful. Thanks.
I guess I should invest in one. We eat a lot of olives so makes sense if they work for olives as well. Thanks for stopping by, John!
Wow, kudos to you for pulling this together at the end of the evening — I’m usually spent by 4 pm ;-). Did you take the photos the next day? Lovely, crisp shots and your dessert looks so fresh and full of goodness. It’s hard to beat warm and bubbly when it comes to satisfaction.
I get energized if I’m wanting something sweet! ๐ I actually made the cherry crumble the next day. Peach and blueberry was the night before. Thanks so much for dropping by, Kelly!
Absolutely gorgeous cherry crumble and I know I would love the crunch from the nuts too. Your photos, as always, are amazing Bill.
Sam
Thank you so much, Sam! I appreciate the compliment!
Bill, I sure wish I was your neighbor! Every time I smelt you baking, I would magically pop up! Your peach/blueberry crumble and this cherry one sound and look so amazing! Thanks for the tip on easy cherry pitting!!
Now this is a crumble! A perfect crumble! Seriously you do cherry season justice!
Witches od Eastwick is one of my top favorite movies so I know exactly what scene you are talking about. That doesn’t stop me from loving cherries, though. ๐ This crumble looks amazing!
I wasn’t sure how many people would get the reference. ๐ Thanks for dropping by, Sashi!
This crumble looks SO good. Although I’m sure you had to take out a 2nd mortgage on your home to get all those cherries at Whole Foods ($$$$$$!!!!) hahaha, it was well worth it for sure. Your crumble is stunning and my mouth is watering just thinking about it!
it looks delicious!
Those are some gorgeous cherries!! This Cherry Crumble looks amazing! I bought some cherries recently, and I’ll have to try that chopstick trick because I don’t have a cherry pitter either!
Get a cheap chopstick. Works like a charm. Thanks for dropping by, Beth! Have a great week!
You had me at cherries! Perfect in every way! #CrazyBeautiful!
Thank you, Brett!!
You’re killing me with this one! Cherry desserts are my absolute favorite. I became very spoiled when I lived in Seattle an you could buy big $5 bags off the back of a truck straight from the farm. This looks delicious, Bill!
Thank you, Jeff! 2.5 pound bag = $18.50 at Whole Foods!! I couldn’t resist, though! Hope you are having a great week!
First of all, I LOVE the photos of the cherries, so, so beautiful! A man after my own heart, I too, opt for fruity desserts with a crust and of course, that mysterious ice cream! Crumbles being some of my favourites. Being English, I think crumbles are in our blood. I grew up eating tons with louts and lots of custard.
Like you, I never invested in a cherry pitter and curse every time I make a dessert that requires me pitting cherries, in which case, I give up the notion of the dessert and just eat the cherries and spit out the pits!
Your crumble, however, looks amazing. I am a sucker for fruit desserts so I love it!!
Nazneen
Outrageous price for the cherries for sure. I bought some anyway and now it looks like I’ll be going back for more because this crumble just needs to be made.