Seasonal Fruit Crisp with Oat-Buckwheat Streusel Topping

Ingredients

Softened butter, for the baking dish

FRUIT FILLING OF YOUR CHOICE (recipes follow; choose one)

STREUSEL TOPPING:

½ cup (50 g) uncooked rolled oats

½ cup (60 g) unbleached all- purpose flour

¼ cup (30 g) buckwheat flour

¼ cup packed (50 g) dark or light brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

6 tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch (1.25 cm) pieces

FOR SERVING:

Ice cream or whipped cream

Directions

Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter an 8 × 8-inch (20 x 20 cm) baking dish with about 1 tablespoon soft butter.

MAKE THE FRUIT FILLING: In a large bowl, toss the fruit with the cornstarch, sugar, salt, and optional flavoring. Set aside and stir from time to time until the sugar is no longer dry looking

MAKE THE STREUSEL TOPPING: Put the oats, all-purpose flour, buckwheat flour, brown sugar,granulated sugar, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl.

Drop in and whisk to blend the butter and, with clean hands, pinch, squeeze, and otherwise knead the butter into the dry ingredients, aiming to form small clumps. This will create the “streusel-y" texture.

Spread the fruit and any juices in the bowl into the prepared pan. Cover with the streusel. Bake until the juices topping start to bubble around the edges and the topping is golden brown, 40-50 minutes. Let cool for at least 15 minutes so juices can thicken up.

Notes

In this world, there are cobbler people and there are crisp people. I am a crisp person. Buttery, sugary nuggets of streusel glazed with bubbling fruit juices? Come on! Buckwheat is quite assertive, so I tame it with white flour, but in this case, the bitter edge of buckwheat plays beautifully with the rest of the streusel ingredients. This streusel topping and the basic method will be good with just about any seasonal fruit, but the amounts of sugar and cornstarch in the filling will vary according to how sweet and juicy your fruit is ... or isn't. This crisp travels nicely through the seasons, so use whatever looks good. I'm including four favorites. —Makes one 8 x 8-inch (20 x20 cm) pan or pie dish (double all ingredients? Use a 9x13” pan)

RHUBARB FILLING

6 cups 1-inch (2.5 cm) chunks rhubarb (about 11 lb/675 g)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, more if your fruit is tart

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground aniseed (optional)

PEAR FILLING

4 cups ½-inch (1.25 cm) pear slices (about 1½ lb/675 g)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, more if your fruit is tart

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

NECTARINE FILLING

6 cups mixed fresh berries

(about 2 1b/910 g)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, more if your fruit is tart

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

MIXED BERRY FILLING

6 cups mixed fresh berries

(about 21b/910 g)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, more if your fruit is tart

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)