Apple-Cherry-Peach Sauce

So here’s my conundrum. I love the idea of making pies and cobblers and crisps out of fresh summer fruit. I mean come on, I would bathe myself in blueberry pie if I could. But the problem with such treats is that it requires you to turn on your oven and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s having to sit in an already sweltering apartment with the effin oven on.

I had this big box of fresh cherries I picked up at Trader Joe’s last week and I was wondering what I could do with them aside from making a cherry sauce to dump over ice cream. I noticed I had some white peaches on the shelf as well as a bag of apples I keep around for my morning green juice. Then it hit me – apple sauce. No oven required and one can eat it cold for a perfect treat on a warm summer night. But what about the crumble topping that makes a crisp so desirable? Easy. Just top with some granola or, even better, some crushed up ginger snaps – ooooo!!! Hell you can even top it with whipped cream or a dollop of yogurt if you like. And look at the color – how can you beat that?

No PDF needed for this recipe:

3 apples, cored and diced
4 peaches, cored and diced
1 lb fresh red cherries, pitted
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 tbsp maple sugar
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 tbsp honey
pinch of kosher salt
Throw everything in a pot/dutch oven/whatever over medium high heat, cover, and let cook down for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once fruit is soft and syrupy, kill heat and puree with a stick blender, or use a potato masher for a chunkier more rustic concoction. Serve chilled with granola for dessert or as a side for pork chops. Yum.