Totally Baked: Cherry Almond Crisp
As someone who is a pastry chef by profession, I am used to creating elaborate desserts and baked goods on the regular. When the time comes where I want or need to bake at home, most often I am looking for a recipe that is as simple as it is delicious. One of the go-to types of desserts I like to pull out of my repertoire is a crisp. There is little that is more inviting than the generous portion of buttery and hearty oat topping giving way to luscious fruit underneath, served up warm straight from the oven. Crisps are a perfect marriage of versatility and comfort food, while also being unbelievably easy to make at any time of the year.
Common crisp fruits and their usages
The versatile nature of a crisp is what makes this dish one of the most perfect ways to easily bake with intention. Once you understand the method of making a crisp, you can adjust the ingredients in it to fit any number of spellwork needs. Below are some common fruits that you can use in your crisp and the intentions they can be used for.
Apple: Apples are perhaps the most classic fruit used in crisp. They are extremely easy to find, with dozens of varieties available in most supermarkets. If you are looking to weave spellwork in the realms of love, beauty, youth, or to draw in divine feminine energy, apples are one of the best choices. An apple crisp is also a wonderful addition to your Mabon or Samhain feast table.
Blueberry: A summertime favorite, blueberries are a lovely, sweet addition to a crisp. Known for boosting brain function and for having an incredible amount of antioxidants, blueberries can be used intentionally to assist in amplifying mental and spiritual acuity and awareness. Furthermore, they are wonderful in spellwork aimed at attracting money and prosperity into your life.
Peach: Peaches are one of my favorite fruits to go and pick during the mid-summer months, which usually leads to a bunch of dishes using the bounty. In Chinese lore, peaches are the symbol of immortality and were eaten by the gods to maintain their immortal status. As with most other stone fruits, I associate them with beauty, love, fertility, and happiness. These properties make peach crisp a lovely dish to serve at weddings or other celebrations of love or family.
Cherry and Almond; BFFs forever
My all-time, absolute favorite fruit to use in baking has to be cherries; I love the deep, rich red fruit sweetness and oh so slight bitter quality they possess. When I bake with cherries, I very often use almonds or almond extract to accentuate these flavors. Beyond the fact that these two are a match made in heaven flavor profile wise, I enjoy they synergy they have when used in spellwork.
Intentionally, cherries are similar to other stone fruits; they are fabulous for drawing in beauty, fertility, abundance, and love. What makes cherries a bit different however is they are also heavily associated with wisdom. If you find yourself struggling with making the right decisions or being in a clear head and heart space to do so, cherries can be woven into your spellwork to assist you.
On the other side of this dynamic duo, almonds are also associated with beauty and abundance. If you are looking to perform spellwork within these realms, these two ingredients will work together to amplify your intentions. Almonds also hold energy for protection and for opening the doorways of opportunity.
I crafted this dish with the purpose of utilizing this powerful combination to help set the intention of protecting your own energy while you take the time to plot the next steps of your journey with a clear head and heart.
What are your favorite combinations of fruits in desserts? Do you have any personal associations with common fruits? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Cherry Almond Crisp
Ingredients
- 36 oz frozen pitted sweet cherries, thawed (clear decisions, abundance, love)
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour (abundance, beginnings, protection)
- 2 tsp almond extract (self protection, opportunity)
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon (brightness, happiness, purification)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (banishment of negativity)
- 1 cup rolled oats (abundance, fertility, prosperity)
- 2 cups all purpose flour (see above)
- 1 cup salted butter, cold and cut into small cubes (prosperity, protection)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (see above)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (sweetening feelings, banishing negativity, lust for life)
- 2 tsp cinnamon (protection, abundance, success)
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds (beauty of life, abundance)
Instructions
- Place thawed cherries into a large bowl, along with flour, lemon zest and juice, almond extract and brown sugar.
- Stir with clean hands or spoon, setting your intentions as you mix, until fully combined.
- Set aside.
- Place oats, flour, sugars, almonds and cinnamon into a large bowl and stir to combine well.
- Add butter cubes into your dry mix and with clean hands begin to rub the butter between your fingers into the dry mix, envisioning your intent while you do so.
- Continue this process until the mixture comes together into a crumbly topping; when it is ready, you should be able to grab some of the mixture and squeeze it into your hand and have it stick together.
- Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and prepare a 10" round cake pan or 9"x13" rectangular pan with cooking spray.
- Place the cherry filling into the prepared pan of your choice and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the crisp topping generously over the top of the fruit, covering it completely.
- Place your crisp on top of a baking sheet to catch any possible spills and place into the preheated oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.
- Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream and enjoy!
