Cherry Plum Pecan Crisp

It seems that I spent all winter making mental lists of all the treats I would make this summer, all involving some combination of cherries, berries, and plums. However, I usually end up eating them all before I get the chance to experiment with them.  The fruit this season have been so sweet and perfect, that it seemed like a crime to do anything but eat them just the way they are.

 

I noticed yesterday that I had a carton of cherries on the brink of going bad.  Wanting to use them, I decided to make a cherry crisp.  I've heard of people using paper clips or chopsticks to pit cherries, but I couldn't figure it out.  I ended up cutting each cherry in half around the pit and prying them out.  It seemed to work fine, but if I ever come across a recipe that necessitates leaving the cherry whole, I might have to invest in one of these.

I didn't quite have enough cherries for even a little individual crisp, so I supplemented them with a couple of tiny plums that I had gotten at the farmers market last week.  I made a topping using some pecans that my friend gave me this weekend, and the combination of the sweet cherries, the slightly tart plums, and the nutty, crunchy pecan topping made me wish that summer would last forever.

I made a lot of topping because I wanted to have some crunch in each bite.  If you like your crisps with a higher fruit to topping ratio, you can halve the topping quantities.  I made the crisp in a 16-ounce ramekin, though I think that dividing them between two 8-ounce ramekins would make for a really cute presentation.  You could share with a friend/roommate/significant other...but I chose to eat mine all by myself.

 

Cherry Plum Pecan Crisp

Filling

1 cup cherries, pitted and halved

2 small (or one large) plum, pitted and sliced

2 teaspoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Combine all the ingredients in a 16-ounce ramekin.  Toss gently until the fruit is evenly coated.

Topping

1/8 cup pecan halves

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, cold, cut into pieces

Combine the pecans, flour, and brown sugar in a food processor.  Pulse until the most of the pecans are ground, with a few larger pieces.  Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand and the pieces of butter are no larger than a pea.

Sprinkle the topping over the filling.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling around the edges.  Let cool slightly; serve warm.