Peach, Cardamom and Cinnamon Crisp

As spring ends and summer begins I start craving our beloved Northwest stone fruit.  Unfortunately, the delicious, ripe and juicy fruit won’t arrive for another month or two, depending on the weather.  So what’s a girl to do when she’s in need of a yummy peach crisp?  Buy frozen peaches!

For desserts, I often opt for frozen fruit, especially if using peaches.  Most frozen fruits are packaged at the peak of ripeness and  make a good substitute for fresh, especially when you’re craving a yummy peach crisp.

In addition to a passion for fresh stone fruit I adore the aromatic spice cardamom.  I typically use cardamom in my apple pies, however, I was thinking I’d be a little daring and try a smidge of cardamom in a peach crisp.  Cardamom is a unique tasting spice used in many savory Indian dishes and is one of the spices included in the lovely spice mixture garam masala. 

I purchase whole cardamom pods, crack them open and then toast them before grinding in a coffee or spice mill.  However, if you want to skip those steps, feel free to purchase ground cardamom in the jar, or in the bulk spice section of your market.  I’ve given instructions for using either whole pods or ground cardamom. 

These tantalizing spices beautifully compliment the peaches and makes a delicious and mouth-watering dessert.  Serve with fresh whipped cream or a vanilla bean ice cream.  Or, if it’s hot outside and you like preparing homemade ice cream, try this dessert with a homemade peach ice cream.  Yum! 

Serves 8

Ingredients

For the peaches

4 cups sliced frozen peaches, thawed (or fresh peaches when in season)

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour or tapioca starch

1 teaspoon ground cardamom*

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Crisp

1 cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free baking mix

1 cup quick cook oats

½ cup brown sugar

Pinch of Kosher salt

12 tablespoons chilled butter, diced into small pieces

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 350F.  In a large bowl, toss together the sugar, flour, cardamom and cinnamon.  Add the peaches and vanilla extract and coat well with the sugar mixture.

In a mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together on low the flour, oats, brown sugar and pinch of salt.  Add the chilled butter and let the mixture continue to mix together until it begins to look like small pieces of dough.  Don’t allow the mixture to mix too long as you’ll end up with one big piece of dough and this will not crisp. 

Pour the peaches into a 9×13 baking dish and top with the crisp mixture.  Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top of the crisp is golden brown and the peach mixture is heated through and bubbly. 

Let the crisp cool slightly and then serve with fresh whipped cream or vanilla bean ice cream. 

*For whole Cardamom pods:  6 pods should give ½ teaspoon of seeds.  Remove the seeds and toast them.  Put them in a coffee mill with about ¼ cup sugar and grind.