SERVES 6
TOTAL TIME: 10 MINUTES
What signifies summer more than peaches? They are so sweet and juicy you don’t have to fuss with them to make a memorable dessert.
| 2 | pounds yellow and white peaches |
| ¼ | cup loosely chopped mint |
| Juice of 1 small lemon (1½ teaspoons) |
Slice peaches and put in a serving bowl. Add mint and lemon juice and toss.
I usually eat more berries as I’m picking them as end up in the bowl. But it’s worth postponing gratification and to wait for this crumble.
BERRY FILLING:
| 4 | pints mixed berries |
| ½ | cup orange juice |
| 1 | cup cane sugar |
| 2 | tablespoons cornstarch |
CRUMBLE TOPPING:
| 1 | cup all-purpose flour |
| 1 | cup quick-cooking rolled oats |
| ¼ | cup cane sugar |
| 6 | ounces Earth Balance “butter,” chilled and diced |
| 1 | teaspoon salt |
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Lightly grease a shallow baking dish that has a capacity to hold about 3 quarts and is 2 to 3 inches deep.
3. In a mixing bowl, prepare the berry filling by tossing together the berries, orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch. Leave at room temperature for 15 minutes.
4. Prepare the crumble topping. In another mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, and salt. Add the Earth Balance “butter”. Mixing with your hands, make clumps of all sizes.
5. Stir the berry mixture and pour into your prepared baking dish; it should be about three-quarters full. With your hands, crumble the topping evenly over the filling.
6. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot, and add ice cream! So good!
SERVES 8
ACTIVE TIME: 30 MINUTES
TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR AND 30 MINUTES
This dessert will surprise your friends. It is a nice twist on a French classic.
| 1¾ | pounds (8 large) plum tomatoes |
| 3 | tablespoons Earth Balance “butter” at room temperature |
| 1¼ | cups cane sugar |
| 1 | teaspoon vanilla extract |
| 1 | sheet dairy-free phyllo dough (half of a 17.3-ounce package), thawed, corners cut off to make a very rough |
| 9- to 10-inch round | |
| Dairy-free whipped cream |
1. Preheat oven to 425°F
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil.
3. Cut shallow X in bottom of each tomato.
4. Add 4 tomatoes to boiling water. Blanch tomatoes just until skins at X begin to peel back, 15 to 30 seconds.
5. Using a slotted spoon, transfer blanched tomatoes to a bowl of ice water to cool quickly. Repeat with remaining tomatoes.
6. Peel tomatoes, cut out cores, halve lengthwise, and remove seeds.
7. Spread Earth Balance “butter” over bottom of 9½-inch-diameter, 2- to 3-inch-deep ovenproof skillet (preferably cast iron).
8. Sprinkle cane sugar over Earth Balance “butter.”
9. Arrange tomato halves, rounded-side down and close together, in concentric circles in skillet to fill completely.
10. Place skillet over medium heat. Cook until sugar and butter are reduced to thickly bubbling, deep amber syrup (about ¼ inch deep in bottom of skillet), moving tomatoes occasionally to prevent burning, about 25 minutes.
11. Remove skillet from heat and immediately drizzle vanilla over tomatoes.
12. Top with pastry round. Using a knife, tuck edges of pastry around tomatoes. Cut 2 or 3 small slits in pastry.
13. Place skillet in oven and bake tart until pastry is deep golden brown, about 24 minutes.
14. Remove tart from oven and let cool in skillet 10 minutes. Cut around sides of skillet to loosen pastry.
15. Place a large platter over skillet. Using oven mitts as an aid, hold skillet and platter firmly together and invert over platter, allowing tart to settle onto platter.
16. Carefully lift off skillet. Rearrange any tomato halves that may have become dislodged.
17. Serve tart warm or at room temperature with dairy-free whipped cream.