Family Favorites...Plum Crunch

  While I usually make a plum crisp by Martha Stewart, this recipe from The Barefoot Contessa  recently caught my eye. The plums are ripe now and so sweet. I tried this for my friends and family. While Martha’s recipe is excellent, this is very, very good.  I did not have the creme de cassis liqueur called for. One of the substitutes is Chambord which I did have. I made ⅔ of the recipe as I had two pounds of plums. Instead of one dish, I made it in individual dishes so it would be easier to transport. It filled 4 ten ounce and 2 seven ounce dishes. Shorten the baking time if you are doing it in smaller dishes. When the plums are bubbling and the top is brown they are done.

The smell is so good while they are baking it will be hard to wait till they are cool enough to eat. If you have either of the liquors do use them as it gives this dessert a divine flavor.

Plum Crunch

3 pound Italian prune plums, pitted and quartered (I used regular red plums)

1 ½ cups light brown sugar, lightly packed

¼ cup all-purpose flour

6 tablespoons creme de cassis liqueur or fruit flavored liqueur

 For the topping

1/12 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

¾ cup light brown sugar lightly packed

½ teaspoon kosher salt*

1 cup oatmeal (dry)

½ cup chopped walnuts

½ pound (2 sticks) cold butter diced

 Vanilla ice cream, for serving if desired

 Preheat the oven to 375°

  For the fruit, in a large bowl, combine the plums, brown sugar, flour and liqueur. Pour the mixture into a 12 x 8 inch shallow baking dish.

  For the topping, combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, oatmeal, walnuts, and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Scatter evenly over the plum mixture.

  Bake the plum crunch for 40 to 45 minutes, until the plums are bubbling and the top is browned. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream if desired.

*This is rich so you might not want the ice cream. We ate it plain and felt it was too good to add anything else to it.

* If baking in individual dishes check after 28 to 30 minutes.

*If using plain salt use a smaller amount, Kosher salt is coarser than table salt so the same amount of table salt will be too salty.