The local stone fruits are just coming in at the local farmers markets. The berries are at the height of season. There are great selections of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and tayberries in the markets. I have been serving sweetened berries with vanilla ice cream but I got a craving for a crisp. I had several interesting crisps while in California. I like a topping that has a nutty whole grain flavor versus more pie like topping. This month’s Bon Appetit had several good summer fruit recipes including this one for Nectarine Raspberry Crisp that caught my eye. It looked very easy especially since it used melted butter instead of creaming in soft butter.

I cut the recipe approximately in half to serve myself and G. I always find it challenging to come up with a pan size that is half of 11×7. I decided to use a round 8″ pan instead.

Today I went to our local farmer’s market and found some fresh nectarines and tayberries. I made it again and I think the tayberries are even better than raspberries. I love boysenberries and tayberries are similar – a cross between blackberry and raspberries. It smelled wonderful coming out of the oven. I’m going to serve it with a big scoop of Ben and Jerry’s Vanilla.

Here are my modifications:

Topping

1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
2 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs dark brown sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
generous pinch of cardamon
2 Tbs finely chopped walnuts
3 Tbs unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly

Fruit Mixture

3 nectarines but into 3/4 inch thick slices
1/2 pint container of fresh berries (boysenberry, tayberries, raspberries or blackberries)
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs cornstarch

Mix flour, oats, sugars, cinnamon, salt, cardamon and walnuts in a medium bowl. Add melted butter and rub together mixture until it comes together (can use fingers or spoon).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter an 8 inch pan. Combine nectarines, berries, sugar and cornstarch. Pour into pan and spring topping eve over fruit. Bake until fruit mixture is bubbling and topping is golden, about 45 minutes. Cool 20 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.