Even with our mouths full, we can still find a way to argue about food. In New Jersey, the debate rages over whether the state’s official sandwich should be the Pork Roll, Egg and Cheese Sandwich or the Taylor Ham, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich.  For the record, Pork Roll and Taylor Ham are the exact same thing, a processed meat product, but depending on whether you are from the south or the north of the state you have an opinion on which appellation is correct.  

A similar nomenclature debate engulfs fruit desserts.  Call a cobbler a crisp or a buckle a crumble and someone is going to call you out on it.  I find it easy to distinguish cobblers and buckles.  The former is baked fruit topped with a biscuit or cake-like crust while the latter is fruit baked in cake with a crumb-topping.

The difference between crisps and crumbles is much more nuanced.  The two are so similar, both feature baked fruit topped with a streusel topping, that their names have been used interchangeably for years now.

But for the linguisticians out there who want to know the correct term for their cake and eat it too, it comes down to the inclusion of oats.  Oats added to a flour, butter and sugar topping turns a plain old crumble into a fabulously delicious crisp. Like this one featuring summer peaches and ripe blueberries.  Happy baking!

Peach and Blueberry Crisp – Printer Friendly Recipe
Serves 6

I leave the skin on the peaches in this recipe for fast assembly, but they tend to become a little chewy after baking.   That doesn’t bother me, but if you are particular peel the peaches before slicing.  You’ll find tips for how best to do this here.

For the crisp:
½ cup old fashioned rolled oats
¼ cup packed dark brown sugar
¼ cup all purpose flour
¼ cup roughly chopped walnuts, pecans, or slivered almonds
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt

For the filling:
1 pint (about 11 ounces) blueberries, rinsed and drained
4 peaches, peeled (if desired – see headnote) and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Special equipment: 1 (10-inch) cast iron skillet, 1 (8-inch x 8-inch) casserole dish
Serve with: vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center of the oven.

In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the crisp.  Use your fingers to rub the butter into the other ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Set aside.

Place all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl.  Toss to combine.   Pour the filling into the cast iron skillet or casserole dish and sprinkle the crisp ingredients over the top.

Bake on the center rack for 40 minutes until the crisp is crisp and the filling is hot and bubbling.   Remove the crisp from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before serving warm with a scoop (or two) of vanilla ice cream.