Herby Peach Cherry Crumble
Luscious summer stone fruits, a handful of herbs, and shortbread-like topping all come together in this Herby Peach Cherry Crumble! Delicious as is, or add a scoop of ice cream for extra yumminess.
Wait, what? Herbs? Yes!
Garden Herbs
Is your name Mary? Are you contrary? And how does your garden grow? My answers might be different from yours: no, yes, and sporadically.
No one will ever accuse me of having a green thumb. However, I have had success growing herbs, perhaps because they can survive triple-digit heat, pesky bugs, and my lack of attention to them.
The two superstar performers for me? Rosemary and mint. And wouldn't you know, they both appear in today's recipe.
The mint gets blitzed together with granulated sugar in a blender or food processor and the result is a deliciously green and heavenly scented sugar to fold into the fruit. It adds an interesting and refreshing layer of flavor to the filling.
As for the rosemary, it's chopped finely and rubbed into the crumbly shortbread topping. The heady aroma will hit your nose about halfway through the bake time. Together, these herbs help temper a dessert that can sometimes skew too sweet.
I love the combo and I hope you do, too! Can't get enough of peaches and cherries together? You might like this Kale Salad with Stone Fruits.
Lessons Learned
- Use peaches that are ripe, but not overly so. Freestone peaches are easier to pit and peel, in my opinion, but use what is available to you.
- Have you bought a cherry pitter? It's worth the $10 or so. They save so much time!
- Not excited about cutting in the butter for the shortbread topping? It's easier to just grate frozen butter on a cheese grater.
Hat Tips
Many thanks to Food52 for the peach, cherry, and mint pie recipe. Also to Alexandra's Kitchen for the food processor rosemary shortbread recipe. This recipe was inspired by them both!
Herby Peach Cherry Crumble
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Filling Ingredients:
- 2 lbs peaches
- 2 cups cherries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
- 3 Tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Shortbread Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup cold butter
Instructions
- Peel, pit, and slice the peaches. Remove the stem and pit from the cherries. Place the peaches and cherries in a large bowl and set aside.
- Add the sugar and mint to a blender or food processor. Blitz for a few seconds, scrape down the sides with a silicone spatula, then blitz again until mint is pulverized and sugar is light green. It will smell heavenly.
- Dump the mint sugar into a medium bowl. Add the cornstarch, lemon zest, and salt. Stir to combine. Pour the mixture over the fruit. Gently stir to combine everything.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/175 C. Set the oven rack into the middle slot. Grease a 9x9-inch pan. Pour the fruit mixture into the prepared pan.
- Make the crumble topping by combining the flour, sugar, rosemary, and salt together in a bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes or use a pastry cutter to cut it into the flour mixture. Once the butter is pea-sized, use your fingers to further work the butter into the flour until it resembles clumpy sand. You can also use a food processor for this.
- Scatter the crumbly topping evenly over the fruit mixture, covering all the way to the edges. The fruit will bubble up and sink some of the topping, but that is part of the charm.
- Place in the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the topping starts to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 20-ish minutes before eating.
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