Hello Ruby Mac – you’re my new favorite apple! Ok, that’s not true. I also love Elstar, Crimson, and Wolf River. How amazing is it to drive to a farm with over 100 varieties of apples? Kiyokawa Orchards in Parkdale, Oregon has the best selection of apples. But that isn’t even their number one crop. It’s pears! They farm one hundred acres of pears and forty acres of apples. We’ve been going there forever. It was my dad’s favorite place to drive to in the fall. And it’s still one of mine.
The other day I texted my mom and asked if she wanted to take a drive to Hood River to do the “Fruit Loop”. It’s an area around Hood River that has family orchards, farm stands, stores, alpacas, and lavender farms. My favorite stops are Kiyokawa Orchards in Parkdale, Packer Orchards and Bakery in Odell, and Fox-Tail Cider in Hood River. We were only able to visit two of my three favorites – but when you get huckleberry ice cream and 75 pounds of apples and pears, you plan for the next time you can go back to hit the cider distillery!
I went kinda crazy and had Elsie help me choose one or two of about 10 different types of apples. You know, for homeschool purposes 🙂 Research. That’s what we’re calling it. I think the lady ringing me up was thankful I wrote the name of the apple on a little piece of paper and tossed it in the bag. It takes some serious skills to identify all the different kinds of apples they have.
These Honeycrisp are about the size of a softball. Crazy big! And the crab apples were so cute, I just had to get a few to add to whatever dessert I come up with. I used a combination of Honeycrisp and Ruby Mac in this crisp.
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Blackberry Apple Crisp
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon Instant ClearJel
- 4 heaping cups peeled and cubed apples, at least two varieties
- 2 heaping cups frozen or fresh blackberries
- splash vanilla
For the topping:
- 1 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour (I used King Arthur)
- 1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 10 tablespoons melted butter
Instructions
For the filling:
- Position rack in middle and preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Combine sugar and ClearJel in small bowl and set aside
- Combine berries and apples in large bowl and splash with vanilla.
- Add sugar mixture and toss to coat.
- Place in 9×13 baking dish coated with non-stick spray.
For the topping:
- In medium bowl combine oats, sugar, flour, hazelnuts, and spices.
- Add butter and stir to combine.
- Cover filling with crumb mixture and bake 45-55 minutes. Top should be lightly browned and filling bubbly.
- Cool on rack for at least 15 minutes before serving with vanilla ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.
More fun pictures from our day in Hood River.
The BEST ice cream. Don’t tell Tillamook I found a new favorite. My mom and I got huckleberry, Rhodes got salted caramel, and Elsie got bubblegum.
This sweet cat came for a visit (sitting with Rhodes), while we enjoyed sitting in adirondack chairs. Elsie found a hammock.
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