Mackayriver's posterous

FRUIT STRUESEL CRISP  (8 to 10 servings)

Fruit filling:

6 apples

3 pears

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

2 cinnamon sticks

4 tablespoons butter

1 lemon

2 cups brown sugar

First cover the dried cranberries in hot water to rehydrate.

Peel and small dice apples and pears, put them in water with half of the lemon squeezed into it so they do not turn brown.  Once all the fruit is cut, in a pot larger than you think you need. Melt the butter with the cinnamon sticks, vanilla bean scrapings and vanilla bean pod.  Over high heat, cook until butter starts to bubble, right before the brown butter stage, meanwhile drain all the water off of the apples and pears, and drain the cranberries.  Add the fruit to the butter and stir with a wooden spoon until all the fruit is coated evenly, then add the brown sugar and the juice of the other half of the lemon.  Stir until all the sugar is dissolved and the mixture starts to boil.  Only cook for one minute more, the fruit still needs to be crunchy in the middle!  Turn off the heat and let the mix come to room temperature in the pot so the fruit can absorb the entire flavor in the pot.  Spoon into individual dishes or into one large dish.  At this point the crisp filling is ready to eat, it only needs to be reheated and topped.  It tastes great on top of vanilla ice cream.  (We have a special topping we use on the river.)

Oat streusel:

258 grams brown sugar

60 grams sugar

243 grams ap flour

227 grams soft butter

1 gram salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

214 grams oats

Combine all of the dry ingredients in a mixer, add butter and vanilla and mix until crumbling.  Add oats.  Bake at 350 F until golden.  It is best to cook the crisp topping separately from the filling, that way it stays crispier, and it is really tasty by itself.  You can also sprinkle the uncooked streusel on top of the crisp and bake it directly on the crisp at 350F.