Drunken Peach Crisp with a Triple Ginger Twist

Make small slit in tops of peaches, place in large bowl and pour boiling water over to scald. Cover and rest 30 minutes, then place in cool water bath to stop cooking. Then you can easily peel with a paring knife. Remove the stone and slice peaches. Taste the peaches and adjust the
sugar accordingly.

Combine sliced peaches, diced ginger pieces, brandy, and lemon juice in bowl. Add sugar and spices and let marinate together while you make the topping. For full brandy flavor, you can refrigerate a few hours or overnight. That would be the drunken part of this recipe!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour and oatmeal. Add crumbled ginger thins (place whole cookies in zip plastic bag and crush with rolling pin.) Combine with the brown sugar and add to the flour mixture. Cut up cold butter into chunks and cut into topping mixture. Continue cutting in butter until well distributed and “pea” sized pieces.

Evenly distribute the peach mixture into individual ramekins and make sure to leave room at the top for the topping mixture. Make sure you get a good bit of the juicy liquid into each dish. Wouldn’t want to leave out any of that drunken goodness!

Spoon crisp/topping mixture into each ramekin, covering peaches completely. Place ramekins on cooking sheet and bake in oven until bubbly and crisp is browned and carmelized nicely, peaches cooked but not mushy — around 30-45 minutes. Your oven might vary.

Serving Suggestions
Top each ramekin with vanilla flavored whipped cream and sprinkle with chopped candied almonds. Or of course vanilla ice cream is always terrific.

Cook’s Tip
Substitute 1 teaspoon of brandy extract and 3 tablespoons apple juice for the brandy in this recipe.
Adjust your liquids if peaches are not very juicy or if you are using frozen peaches.

Uncrystallized candied ginger available at Trader Joe’s (dice with paring knife and periodically rinse knife in warm water to remove the sticky residue.) I also considered freezing the bits to see if dicing/slicing would be easier — next time.