Easy Apple Blueberry Fruit Crisp
Apple Blueberry Fruit Crisp
In April, 2011, my husband and I got married in our home with 25 people attending. To save money, my daughter and I planned to make all of the food. Our menu was vegetarian lasagna, green salad, bean salad, chips and dip, vegie platter and dip, and dessert. I originally planned to have it catered. My daughter, Alisa, thought that with such a simple menu, we could handle it. Doing it ourselves would save a lot of money. We could have all organic, exactly what we wanted kinds of food. I was a little nervous about getting it all ready and was not sure if I would have the time to do it all.
I was in a panic for several days before the wedding when I suddenly realized what I had taken on! Cooking for 27 people seemed daunting. It felt more manageable by focusing on one menu item at a time instead of trying to plan everything at once. However, I was often not sure everything would be ready and that I would also have time to enjoy the wedding and guests. In the end, it worked out beautifully.
We did end up hiring two people the day before and the day of the wedding to help us make it all and serve it. Fortunately, one of the people we hired was someone who had worked for a catering friend of ours, who knew a lot about preparing the food, and displaying and serving it in an elegant and beautiful way. I brought out a lot of my silverware and china that I rarely use. It all worked out in the end and we had a beautiful wedding and a delicious meal.
Wedding Cake Challenge - No Wheat and No Sugar
I and most of my friends don’t eat sugary cake or any kind of cake. A lot of our friends are off of sugar and wheat. Trying to figure out a dessert that worked for me. my husband, and everyone else was a challenge. For a great wedding dessert cake, I needed something delicious and sweet, but not too sickeningly sweet. I came up with a fabulous fruit crisp recipe. I went through all of my cookbooks and searched the web. I combined and adapted several basic fruit crisp recipes into a winner. I am still getting compliments on it and requests for it.
Coconut Palm Nectar and Rice Flour
The recipe usually calls for brown sugar. You can use that. However, I substituted Coconut Palm Nectar for the sugar. Palm Nectar is low glycemic which means diabetics can eat it with no problem. I am very sensitive to sugar, but have no problem with Coconut Palm Nectar. Pure coconut palm sugar is a natural product made from the nectar of the coconut palm tree. Most of the “palm sugar” commonly sold in Asian markets is not pure coconut palm sugar but is blended with other fillers such as white cane sugar. I used Certified Organic Coconut Palm Nectar sold by Sweet Tree in the US.
I also used white rice flour instead of wheat flour. There is also brown rice flour, but I find that very gritty.
Cook Time
Ingredients - Filling
6 cups apples, thinly sliced (peeled or unpeeled)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon lemon juice, preferably freshly squeezed
1 cup fresh blueberries
Ingredients - Topping
3/4 cup brown sugar or Coconut Palm Nectar
2/3 cup unbleached white flour or rice flour
1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1 cup dried shredded coconut or finely chopped nuts 3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 9 x 13 inch pan.
- Mix all of the ingredients for the filling together and spread evenly in the baking dish.
- Combine the dry ingredients for the topping in a bowl
- Cut the butter into small pieces, add to the dry ingredients, and work in with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Crumble the topping evenly over the fruit.
- Bake until the topping is lightly browned and the fruit is tender, about 45 minutes.
Serve warm with whipping cream or ice cream and sliced strawberries on top.
Let me know how you like it!
