Last night, I had a bowl of Italian plums sitting on the counter, as well as several bowls of apples sitting around, so I decided to combine these two ingredients into a dessert. The result was a crisp that my husband raved about! And the funny thing is, my husband doesn't care for the tart apples I used when eaten on their own, nor is he a big fan of our particular prune-plums. But combined? He adored them!

I used a thin-skinned, tart apple for this recipe. I didn't peel them, but if your apples have a thicker skin, you may wish to peel them. Our prune-plums are neither super sweet nor tart, so use that as a guide when choosing a plum for this recipe. Also be sure the plum you choose holds up reasonably well to cooking.

Plum-Apple Crisp

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For the topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated cane sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

7 tablespoons butter, cold

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

For the filling:

2 1/2 cups of tart apples, cored and cut into thin slices

about 1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 1/2 cups prune-plums, pitted and quartered

1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon sea salt 

 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of an 11-inch cast-iron skillet (or, if you don't have one, a similarly sized baking dish). Set aside.

To make the topping:

2. Combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium-sized bowl.

3. Cut in slices of the cold butter, then use your hands to blend the butter into the flour mixture, working it until it resembles coarse crumbs.

To make the filling:

4. Cut up the apples, place them in a large bowl, and sprinkle the lemon juice over them. Toss, to coat the apples. (The juice helps keep the apples from browning, but also adds a touch of "extra something" to the flavor.)

5. Cut up the plums and add them to the bowl of prepared apples. Toss.

6. In another large bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt.

7. Add the fruit to the brown sugar mixture, tossing until it is well-coated and no dry ingredients remain resting on the bottom of the bowl.

8. Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared pan or baking dish.

9. Finish the crisp's topping by stirring the vanilla into the topping mixture, then sprinkle the topping over the top of the fruit in the pan/dish.

10. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden. Serve warm, with a little vanilla ice cream.