Updated for 2021
We’ve got a great recipe to share from one of LA’s favorite restaurants, the Spielberg family-owned neighborhood restaurant The Milky Way: Executive Chef Phil Kastel’s Seasonal Fruit Crisp.
The beloved Pico-Robertson neighborhood restaurant The Milky Way is a kosher dairy restaurant, once run under the grace and singular charm of Leah Spielberg Adler and still owned by the Spielberg family.
February 2021 update: The Milky Way is reopening for outdoor dining, takeout/curbside pickup and Postmates delivery starting Monday, February 15th! The restaurant is now accepting reservations for parties of 6 or fewer on Resy.
They’re sharing this recipe with us – and now with you, too.
The Milky Way Seasonal Fruit Crisp
This recipe is really simple and it came out delicious! It’s not overly sweet, which we prefer at my house, so if you want you can have it as-is, or you can add ice cream or whipped cream without making it over the top.
The chef is also super accommodating, making this into a “seasonal” recipe, meaning you can use whatever fruit is available when you decide to make it. It’s written with stone fruit in mind, and we’re sure that will taste amazing, but it’s not quite time for them yet, so this time we used apples – honey crisp, to be exact. But you could easily substitute or mix your favorite fruits and berries with what’s in season and available at your local farmers market.
Our favorite part is the crisp, which has a secret ingredient we’ve never used in crisp before: cream cheese! We think it makes for a nice balance with the sugar and keeps it from getting too sweet. Just delicious!
Give this recipe a try and let us know what you think.
Ingredients
Topping:
½ cup All Purpose Flour
½ cup Brown Sugar – packed
4 oz Butter – chilled cut into ½ inch pieces
2 oz Cream Cheese – chilled cut into ½ inch pieces
1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
1 cup Walnuts – Chopped
Step 1
In a food processor: pulse flour, sugar, butter and cream cheese until just combined. Transfer to a mixing bowl and fold in the oats and walnuts until combined and large crumbles of topping are formed. Place in refrigerator while preparing the fruit so topping can firm up a bit.
mixing topping with secret ingredient – cream cheese!
Fruit Filling:
8 cups Assorted Stone Fruit – sliced ½ in thick – about 3 ½ pounds whole fruit * Or use whatever fruit is in season. We used Honey Crisp apples – peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
½ cup Sugar
3 Tbl Corn Starch
1 tsp Orange Zest
1 Tbl Orange Juice
¼ tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Kosher Salt – Dimond Brand
Step 1
Remove pits from stone fruit and slice into ½ inch pieces and place in mixing bowl – or peel apples and cut into cubes; toss with remaining ingredients and layer in 2 to 3-quart baking dish.
Step 2
Place crumble topping over fruit mixture covering completely; place baking dish on sheet pan and place in pre-heated 350-degree oven for 60-75 minutes until crisp is bubbly in areas and topping is golden brown.
Step 3
Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack for 30-40 minutes and allow sauce to continue to thicken. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
Delicious and perfect for dessert anytime.
This recipe was printed with permission from The Milky Way restaurant in Los Angeles.
