A couple of weeks ago, my Mom asked me if I could come up with a couple of desserts for her using lower sugar ingredients. You know, when Momma asks, it's "Yes ma'am!" I know many people have dietary restrictions that limit intake of certain ingredients, like dairy, gluten and sugar, and I was sort of excited to face the challenge. Fall is right around the corner, so, I decided to make a fruit crisp, even though I knew it would be tricky. I wanted to make sure my peaches were super ripe, and soft to the touch without being mushy, knowing they would be naturally sweeter that way. I wanted to pair them with another fruit, and decided on sweet dark cherries. I used frozen dark cherries because, they're already pitted, and we love 'em.
To sweeten the fruit I used 1 1/4 teaspoons of dry sugar free peach flavored gelatin dissolved in orange juice for a dual purpose. Firstly, to replace the sugar. Secondly, to serve as the thickener for the sauce. Of course, the best part of any crisp is the topping, so, I used the Splenda Brown Sugar blend to cut the amount of sugar for the crisp topping in half. I'm not implying that this is a diet dish, by any means, but, it's a very tasty lower sugar option. My family didn't notice the difference and happily polished it off. Serve it warm with or without vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt. ☺
For the filling you'll need:
3 1/2 cups of sliced peaches [about 5 large]
1 12 oz. bag of frozen dark sweet cherries [pitted]
1 1/4 tsp. of dry sugar free peach flavored gelatin mix
1/4 cup of fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. pure almond extract
1/2 tsp. orange zest [or more to taste]
For the crisp:
1 cup of oats
1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar blend [like Splenda]
1/3 cup cold butter
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 2 1/2 quart baking dish with cooking spray. In a small mixing bowl, mix together the topping ingredients. Cube the butter. This will make it easier to cut it into the dry ingredients. When working with oats such as in this topping, I think it's better to cut the butter in by hand using a pastry blender. A food processor can pulverise the oats. Cut in the butter until the topping resembles coarse crumbs.
In a separate bowl, mix together the peach slices and cherries. I let my cherries sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes to thaw, and then drained any excess juice before adding them to the peaches. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Dissolve the gelatin in the orange juice and mix with the almond extract. Pour over the fruit. and stir gently, until the fruit is evenly coated. I zested the orange right over the bowl. I'm guessing it was probably around 1/2 a teaspoon more or less.
Spread the fruit into the bottom of the baking dish.
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit.
Place into the oven and bake for 45-47 minutes until golden and bubbly. Let the crisp sit on the counter for 15 minutes before serving to allow the juices to thicken. Serve warm. Yield: 6 servings
Cook's note:
The gelatin will dissolve more easily if the orange juice is warm.
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