Today, a balsamic blueberry crisp because we are smack in blueberry season and having gone to the farm to hand pick these beauts last week in almost 90 degree heat, it was time to use them up.
So this recipe. Flashback to, no joke, 2005 maybe (?) when my friend came over and I made some sort of blueberry berry thing for her. She loved it and years later brought it up and – I had zero recollection of ever making such a dish. It always stuck in my mind that I had, and that someone had liked it enough to bring it up years later.
While I have zero hopes of every finding that OG recipe for whatever balsamic berry dessert I made back then, I was confident that 17 years later I could come up with an equally satisfactory version for her, and for you.
If you’ve been around these parts you know I don’t love fruit desserts…save for this peach upside down cake so I needed a little bit of help on this one.
I combined a few recipes from Huckleberry and added a few twist of my own. The result was to die for and since I made this first thing one morning, it made for a fab breakfast.
Dessert for breakfast? It’s Leo season, so hear us ROAR and do whatever the hell we want.
Like listen to the My Fair Lady soundtrack on full blast all day since Saturday.
The balsamic vinegar sort of gets reduced while it’s cooking and make everything deliciously gooey, and the berries even sweeter than Mother Nature.
Would this work with other fruit? For sure, but I’d stick with berries or cherries. Peaches would work, but I think peak-season peaches are too magnificent on their own to be gummied up with balsamic, no matter how good the combo would be. Just my own thoughts on that matter.
Did I say that I made this before work one day? That’s right, about 10 minutes to throw together before an hour hands-off bake time. You have zero excuses.
Go forth and be berry!
Balsamic Blueberry Crisp
Balsamic Blueberry Crisp is the ultimate summer dessert - juicy blueberries with tangy balsamic & topped with buttery, butty crisp topping.
Ingredients
- For the blueberries:
- 5 cups fresh blueberries
- 1 TB brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 TB cornstarch
- 1 TB lemon juice
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- For the crisp:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 5 TB granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/3 cup chopped almonds
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Step 2 Make the topping: Combine the flours, granulated sugar, salt, in a bowl and using your hands or a fork, mix until uniform in texture. Set aside.
- Step 3 Make the filling by combining the blueberries, cornstarch, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, sugar and salt in another bowl. Mix well.
- Step 4 Pour the berries into a pie plate, or a 6″ cast iron skillet. Cover the berries thoroughly with the flour mixture. Bake for 55 minutes until the berries and bubbling – to make sure nothing spills in your own, place a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any drips. Sprinkle the chopped almonds over the top and bake the remaining five minutes.
- Step 5 Serve warm with ice cream!
Ah yeah still think about it haha