Peach Mock Pie with Cranberries and Mango (Peach Crumble)

It's peach season and we are awash in peaches.  We thought you might be also, so we decided to share some great peach desserts—a pie, a crumble, and a cobbler.  We think you will find all three extraordinary.

This is really a crumble but it's made with a little less liquid and in a pie pan to look more like a pie.  It's a quicker version of a pie and a variation of the Cranapple Mock Pie that we presented in a newsletter earlier this summer.

This is one of those recipes that allow you to experiment, to be creative.  We bought a selection of juices—both frozen concentrates and bottled juices—before starting this project.  We also visited the frozen fruit section in the grocer's freezer case and picked up several berry choices.  (Buy the individually frozen berries, not the berries frozen in syrup.)  For this version, we settled on sweet mango juice to complement the peaches and tart cranberries to accent them.  We used our cold processed cranberries—we much prefer them.  (To learn more about cold processed cranberries or to purchase them, click here.)  

Peach Mock Pie with Cranberries and Mango

You will need a deep-dish, nine-inch pie pan for this dessert.

Fruit filling:

3/4 cup mango juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup dried cranberries
5 cups ripe peaches, peeled and sliced (about six medium peaches)

Crumble Topping:

3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
6 tablespoons cold butter
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
1. In a large bowl, whisk the juice, extract, flour, and brown sugar together.  Stir till dissolved.
2. Add the cranberries and the peaches.  Stir to coat the fruit with the liquid mixture. 
3. For the streusel topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon together.  Cut the butter into small pieces and then cut into the mix with a pastry knife or two kitchen knives.  Add the nuts.
4. Place the fruit filling in a deep-dish, nine-inch pan.  Level the filling.  Cover with the streusel topping.
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until the topping begins to brown.

Serve warm or cold with ice cream or whipped cream.