"The World's Best" Topping for Crisps

The Bistrot's homestyle Market Fruit Crisp has been a huge crowd-pleaser, with many guests saying it's better than what Mom used to make. The secret to our crisp recipe is that we hardly ever make the same crisp twice — we start with whichever fruits look particularly good and go from there. This recipe is for the crisp that we make in the winter, but ideally, you should use whatever fruits are most seasonal. For example, in the summer, we fill our crisp with berries and then peaches; in the fall. Note: you can use the topping part of this recipe on any type of brown betty, streusel, cobbler, or anything else with a crisp topping.

Topping Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup Demerara sugar (natural, unrefined brown sugar available in most specialty shops)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 lb butter, softened
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups toasted chopped walnuts

Filling Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups dried fruit (such as apricots, rasins, pears, prunes and cranberries)
Port
1 pint fresh blackberries
3 ripe pears, diced
4 ripe apples, diced
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons calvados
4 tablespoons flour
pinch of salt

The night before serving, cut the dried fruit into raisin-sized pieces and pour enough boiling port over the fruit to cover. The fruit will absorb the port, and any leftover fruit will only get better over time.

To make the topping: Sift first four ingredients through a sifter. Work the butter into mix a little bit at a time. Gradually add the walnuts.

To make the filling: In a bowl, combine the dried fruit, blackberries, pears, apples, sugar, calvados, flour and salt. Toss well to combine. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the filling in a buttered pan just large enough to hold all ingredients. With your hands, spread an even layer of crisp topping over the fruit, using enough so that no fruit shows through the topping. Bake, uncovered, until topping is an even golden-brown throughout and the fruit is cooked - from one to two hours. Serve with vanilla ice cream

Notes: Serves 8-12. Any extra topping mix can be stored in fridge for up to a week and used on any type of crisp or brown betty. Substitute any light brown sugar for Demerara if necessary.