My birthday is July 4^th and I’m a true Yankee Doodle Dandy! A real firecracker! That’s me. It should come as no surprise I like my birthday dessert to be a little more unconventional. This deconstructed cherry almond crumble – is one of my favorite birthday desserts and perfect for the summer.

With all the excitement of the day it’s a wonder I can choose a birthday dessert at all. There is always a barbecue to plan, or a barbecue to go to, fireworks, parades, 5k runs, picnics, pool parties – you name it. For many years I always requested a birthday cake that was a little bit out of the ordinary like black forest or Boston cream pie. With both of my boys out of the house, we don’t often get a whole cake for just the two of us. I try to come up with a fun and creative treat and this year it was a mash up of my favorite fruit – cherries and crumb topping. You are going to love this topping!

The topping recipe came by way of a cooking show over a decade ago. It’s no secret I’m a Food Network junkie. If there was a trivia game show based on The Food Network, I feel confident I could win. For instance, did you know about 10 years ago before Alex Guarnaschelli became an Iron Chef, she had a cooking show called The Loft? In the show, she taught a small group of people how to cook. This is one of her recipes.

The original is called stove-top peaches with streusel topping and zesty sour cream. It was revolutionary! She baked the streusel* (which I call crumb) separately from the peaches then assembled it all together. I made it that night! The crumb is mixed together then spread out onto a cookie sheet and baked. It tastes like little almond shortbread cookies and are truly delicious and addicting! I have changed the original recipe a bit for the crumb by adding more almond flour and a dash of extract.

In the years since, not a summer goes by when I don’t have a jar of this delicious almond crumb in my fridge. It keeps really well for a few weeks – if it lasts that long. The best part, you can make it ahead of time then assemble individually. It’s a dessert you can completely personalize. I have also served it on a buffet and let guests make their own fruit crumble and it always becomes the hit of the party.

As for the cherries, this cherry pie filling is something new I recently tried and can’t believe how easy it is. I also can’t believe I lived without it for so long! I have used both fresh and frozen fruit and honestly, I think frozen is the way to go. Reasons why I love to use frozen Cherries… I don’t like pitting 2 ½ pounds of cherries, they are much cheaper than fresh, frozen are delicious and, they are available year round. If you feel you want to go the fresh route, go for it, just add ¼ cup of water in with the cherries when cooking.

So there you have it, my deconstructed cherry almond crumble. Oh, and if you don’t want to deconstruct it, pour the cooked cherries into a 10 inch glass pie dish and top with as much of the crumb topping as you would like. Don’t’ forget the ice cream to top it off! I topped mine with vanilla but next time, I’m going for pistachio! Enjoy

Makes 6 to 8 servings or one 10” pie total time less than 40 minutes

Crumb Topping
1 ½ cups almond flour or finely ground almonds
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioner’s sugar (powdered)
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled (or grape seed oil)
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the melted butter and almond extract stir together with a fork until combined and forms clumps.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Don’t overbake. They may feel a little soft to the touch but will firm up a bit when cooled. Use as needed.

Once the crumb topping is in the oven, you can start on the cherries.

Cherry Pie filling

2 ½ pounds frozen or fresh sweet dark cherries**
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 to ¼ cups sugar (depending on how sweet cherries are)***
2 tablespoons water (to mix with the cornstarch)
2 level tablespoons cornstarch½ teaspoon almond extract

Into a 5 quart pot, add the cherries and sugar (1/8^th cup to start) over medium heat. When the cherries start to simmer, add the lemon juice and gently stir to combine. Taste the juice to see if you need more sugar and add at this time.

In a small bowl add the water and cornstarch stirring to combine and set aside. Once boiling, pour in the cornstarch slurry and mix. Lower the heat and continue to simmer until the juice thickens and looks like cherry pie filling. Cook stirring frequently for about 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the almond extract.  Let it cool slightly before serving. Serve in individual serving bowls and top with a couple tablespoons of the crumb mixture.

* Many people ask often ask me the difference between streusel and crumb. By definition, streusel is a crumbly mixture of flour, butter, and sugar. The ratios of each ingredient yield different results. In America crumb and streusel are used interchangeably. In German streusel comes from the word “streuen” or strew meaning to scatter. Some are fine and sandy, while others like the one I am featuring yield much larger crumbs. Some streusels also add nuts and spices. Both can be used as a topping and/or filling for cakes or muffins. For me, when something looks like a big crumb, that’s what I call it. When it has a finer texture like sand, I refer to it as a streusel.

**You can also use tart cherries or Trader Joe’s has a bag of mixed cherries

***I started with an 1/8 cup of sugar and then tasted the cherries as they cooked. The Bing cherries are a bit sweeter than tart and I felt it was sweet enough for me but use your judgement on how you like it.