Published July 1, 1998.
We tried everything from Grape-Nuts to cookie crumbs as a topping for our fruit crisp recipe and found the ideal topping mixture to be chopped nuts and flour. Cutting the butter into the flour is crucial in creating a crisp topping, and we found that a food processor was ideally suited to producing a mixture that resembles crumbly wet sand. We departed from traditional fruit crisp recipes by deciding against the use of a thickener for the fruit; letting the juices flow resulted in a much brighter, cleaner fruit taste. Only plums, which tend to be very juicy, needed a tablespoon of tapioca for thickening.
To make a larger crisp that serves 10, double all the ingredients, use a 13 x 9-inch baking pan, and bake for 55 minutes at 375 degrees, without increasing the oven temperature. Half a teaspoon of grated fresh ginger makes a nice flavor addition to all the fruits. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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