Granny's Black & Blueberry Crisp

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This particular crisp was a true labor of love. Not that it always has to be that way. A fruit crisp with a good topping is about as easy as any dessert can get. Fresh, frozen or canned fruit work beautifully and can be assembled in a few minutes while the oven does the rest of the work. In the case of this particular crisp, there is a little more of a story to it.
Kono and I picked the wild blackberries over the course of three days during our daily walking of the dog. Snaking our way through the thorny shrubs picking only the biggest and blackest ones we could find, adding a few more berries to our collection everyday until we had about 8 cups.

Then we cooked them down to soften them up so we could strain out those annoying seeds. Eight cups of blackberries rendered about 2 cups of precious seedless puree.

The blueberries were the very last from our bushes out our front door. I guess this is a sign that summer is coming to an end. All that we could gather was 2 cups, so that’s what ended up in the crisp.

The granny part of the crisp came about because I needed more fruit in the mix and since I had a couple of granny smith apples on my counter they ended up in the crisp making it a Granny’s Black & Blueberry Crisp.

This may have been the best crisp I have ever made. The blackberry puree tossed with the blueberries and apples added just the right amount of sweet to balance out the hint of tartness that the apples and blueberries brought.

As for the crisp topping, a simple combination of flour, white & brown sugar and oatmeal brought together with cold butter. Sometimes I make a double recipe and toss ½ in the freezer for a quick crisp for another time.

GRANNY’S BLACK & BLUEBERRY CRISP

CRUMB TOPPING

1 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup golden brown sugar

¼ tsp. kosher salt

½ cup oats

½ cup cold butter (1 stick)

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add it to the dry mix. Either pulse in a food processor or squeeze and press butter into the dry mix with your hands to evenly distribute the butter. Place in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

FILLING

2 cups blueberries

2 granny smith apples, peeled, seeded and cut into bite size pieces

1 cup blackberry puree

½ lemon, juiced

¼ cup flour

Cut up the apples and squeeze the lemon juice over it. Add the blueberries, blackberry puree and flour to the apples and mix until all the flour has been absorbed. Pour it into a 8 X 8 baking dish. Top with the crumb topping and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 – 50 minute or until the crumb topping is golden brown.

BLACK BERRY PUREE

For each cup of fresh black berries add ¼ cup of sugar. Mix and let sit on the counter for about an hour or two. This allows the berries to release their liquid. Place the berries in a pot and slowly bring it to a boil. Remove from heat and in small batches press the berries through a mesh strainer to remove the seeds,