Mixed Berry Whiskey Crisp

These kind of desserts are the epitome of a summer! When I think of a fresh fruit crisp for dessert, I picture being out in the sunshine all day and grilling up something for dinner. 

The last few weeks we have made a solid effort of getting out of the house on the weekends for a little day trip and coming back and making some dinner at home. It has been a great effort in saving money and still having some fun. 

If we’re being honest we have to REALLY plan for those day trip. We went to a few Temecula Wineries the week of fourth of July and it was fantastic. Those days I feel so alive. 

For the last 11 months, I have taken on this incredible strain of trying to blog full time and working a full-time job. When I get a real day off that doesn’t consist of a sink full of dishes or staring at my computer from the couch, it’s usually pretty great & refreshing. 

This Sunday we had plans to head up to Solvang (a little Dutch town near Santa Barbara). We love a few hours of exploring and a great lunch from a new restaurant. Sadly, we woke up and little Rascal had a pretty bad bout of the poops (sorry for TMI).

So we postponed the trip and I watched an embarrassing amount of Grey’s Anatomy episodes and worked on blog work all day. We added a new ‘lifestyle’ category to the blog! I wanted to dedicate this space to more home/apartment content. Let me know what other kinds of lifestyle content you would be interested in seeing!

I would be open to doing outfit posts but probably not glamour cateogories considering I only wear about 4 products of makeup that probably wouldn’t be very fitting. Maybe some entertaining tips?! Or more home posts?! Let me know!

So we rounded out our lazy Sunday with one too many loads of laundry and I made a berry crisp to take on our makeshift picnic for dinner (we had to at least get out of the apartment!).

We ordered takeout from one of our favorite places and took a blanket to a great open park. Rascal got some much needed fresh air and I left my phone in the car on purpose. The phoneless, fresh air nights with my little 3 man family are my favorite. 

I figure we needed a little something homemade so I whipped up a Mixed Berry Whiskey Crisp . To be honest, I feel a little hollow if I don’t do anything creative on Sunday’s, so I knew something was in the works. This time of year I seem to crank out a fruit crisp once a week. For this take, I went ‘oops all berries +cherries’! It was tarty, fresh and had this warm wholesomeness from the whiskey added in. 

You can always omit the whiskey but we love a good boozy dessert around here. Whiskey really adds a second level of flavor that you don’t get from a normal recipe. For the crumble on top, I always add a generous amount of oats and salt. The oats give it this chewy bite and the kosher salt gives you this salty/sweet combo that sends your taste buds for a loop. 

Make sure you use fresh berries and don’t forget to order a cherry pitter or you will be there ALL DAY. Ha!

Mixed Berry Whiskey Crisp

1 Cup blueberries
1 Cup raspberries
1 1/2 Cups of quartered strawberries
1 1/2 Cups of cherries, pitted
1/4 Cup of whiskey
2/3 Cup of sugar
1 Teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon of nutmeg
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon zest
5 Tablespoons of cornstarch
Juice from half a lemon

1/3 Cup of sugar
2/3 Cup of all purpose flour
1/2 Cup of oats
1 Teaspoon of cinnamon
1 Teaspoon of kosher salt
1/2 Cup of cold butter, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit 

In a large bowl combine all fruit, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, lemon zest, lemon juice, whiskey and corn starch. Stir well and transfer to a casserole baking dish.

In a new bowl combine ingredients for crumble: sugar, flour, oats, cinnamon, salt and shredded butter. Crumble together with your hands of pastry blender until mixture is sandy and crumbles are about a nickel size. Top evenly with fruit mixture and make for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream.