Holyoke's Extra Famous Beach Plum Crisp

When we first made this a couple years ago we were ecstatic.  What great flavor!  We couldn't stop talking about it, and it's become an annual tradition: Holyoke's Extra Famous Beach Plum Crisp.  Why is it EXTRA famous?  Well, you'll just have to try it and find out. 

We have a beautiful beach plum in our backyard.  It's an improved variety of the kind you find near the beach.  It makes luscious little plums that we always have to fight the blue jays for.  We tend to have trouble with stone fruits here - they seem to attract pests - and the beach plum is no exception.  Bummer because they're so tasty.

You can get your own beach plum shrub from our nursery, Food Forest Farm.  Or you can forage for plums at your favorite New England or Mid Atlantic beach.

The recipe is simple and easy:

5 cups beach plums, pitted and halved
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/4 cup cold butter, cut up

Preheat oven to 375.  Spread plums evenly onto bottom of lightly greased 13" x 9" glass baking dish.  Mix lemon juice and vanilla in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over plums.

In a separate bowl, mix topping ingredients together.  Sprinkle evenly over plums.  Bake 35 - 40 minutes.

Here's a picture of me and Jonathan near the beach plum at our wedding in the forest garden.  Check out the beautiful fruits (and I don't mean us!)

(Photo by Becca Bock Hagen)