Peach and Blueberry Crumble with Tarragon

I found some delicious, locally grown peaches at the market the other day, and they looked so good in their cute little wooden box that I had to buy them.  There were about 12 of them in the crate and were still a bit hard when I bought them so I left them on the counter to continue ripening for a couple of days.  When they seemed to have softened enough, my wife and I cut into one for a lunchtime dessert and were thrilled with how great they were, so juicy and very sweet.

Of course, the problem with peaches (and most fresh fruit for that matter) is that once they attain their peak of freshness, they begin a quick downhill sprint to the land of rot.  If we only had one or two to snarf down in a hurry I wouldn't have worried much, but with a ten or so peaches left, and most of our clan off at various camps this week, I was afraid we'd lose all the lovelies to our ever present summer battalion of fruit flies, before we had a chance to enjoy them.

I thought of making a jam with them, but when I make jams I like to make vast quantities, can the preserves, and be able to enjoy them over the course of the winter or give jars away as gifts.  Peach jam sounded fab, but I didn't have enough peaches to get me very far so I settled instead for making a quick crumble, and decided to incorporate some blueberries we had laying about as well, and for a little something different some fresh tarragon from the garden.  

I'm a huge fan of crisps, cobblers, crumbles and grunts, and turn to them often as a way to use up loads of abundant and fresh summer fruits.  What's the difference between all these various baked fruit desserts?  

Well, aren't you good to ask…..let me tell you.

Slumps and Cobblers are both desserts where fruit is topped with biscuits before baked, in a Slump a drop biscuit is used, with a Cobbler a rolled and cut biscuit is used.  Traditionally a Crisp, like a Brown Betty uses bread crumbs in its topping, while a Crumble like we're making here, uses rolled oats as part of the topping.  A Grunt is similar to a Slump or Cobbler, but instead of individual biscuits placed on top of the fruit, it has an even layer of biscuit dough that tops almost the entire baking dish ( a little space is left at the edges for steam to escape).  Finally we have the Buckle, in which a layer of cake batter is studded with berries and then topped with a streusel topping before baking.

All of these options are so easy to make and so incredibly flexible that they are a great dessert to have in your recipe quiver.  Try this peach filling with any of the variations above, and check back with us to let us know how it came out.  Thanks!

Cheers – Steve