This Ginger Peach Crisp with Ginger Infused Whipped Cream is the perfect way to enjoy the fresh flavor of ripe peaches, balanced with the sweet heat of ginger.
There’s not much better than a perfectly ripe peach at the height of peach season. Baked into a warm crisp and topped with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream? Yes please!
Our version has just the right amount of ginger to complement that fresh peach flavor. It will become your new favorite way to make this seasonal classic!
Ginger
I’m pretty sure ginger saved my life back when I was pregnant and suffering from severe all-day-long sickness. Ginger rescued me when nothing else helped. My kids are teenagers now, but I still always have ginger around and love it in all kinds of recipes.
Mostly, I use fresh but frozen ginger, peeled and grated for different recipes. But I always have a bag of uncrystallized candied ginger around, too, because it’s a bit less sharp and I enjoy eating it on its own.
You can find candied ginger at most large grocery stores. I like the version from Trader Joes, sold with the dried fruit. This one from OliveNation is a nice one, too.
Candied ginger is made by simmering fresh ginger in a sugar syrup, then dried. Uncrystallized candied ginger stops there, but crystallized is also rolled in granulated sugar. Either kind can be used in this recipe.
Fresh (or frozen) ginger has more bite and is less sweet, but is still amazing in this recipe when you tweak the amount used in both the crisp and the whipped cream. You can find the adjusted measurements and instructions in the recipe below.
Ginger Peach Crisp
Start with your peaches to make this wonderful dessert. You will need 4-5 large peaches and are aiming to mostly fill your dish. This recipe is for a smaller batch, but you can feel free to double it! Pit, peel, and slice your peaches, then toss them with a teaspoon of cornstarch, which will help to thicken the juices as the crisp bakes.
That part might take a bit of time, but it’s easy. This next step is super easy, too. With a fork, mix together all of the remaining dry ingredients, then cut in your butter. You want all the dry ingredients to be incorporated into the butter. It will look like sticky crumbles, but with no pockets of the dry ingredients hanging out at the bottom of the bowl.
You could also use a pastry cutter or your fingers for this step, but I try to avoid a food processor because it would break down the oats a little too much.
Crumble this mixture onto the top of your peaches and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top is dark golden brown and the peaches are bubbling.
Ginger-Infused Whipped Cream
Making infused whipped cream is so easy and so delicious, you will want to come up with all kinds of combinations. Also, if you’ve never whipped your own cream, you are truly missing out. It is soft, pillowy, and delicious. So much better than anything you get in a can or tub at the grocery store. You need only heavy whipping cream and a touch of powdered sugar to make plain whipped cream.
To infuse it, simply warm the cream with your flavor component – in this case, ginger – until simmering. The cream will take on the flavor, which will become stronger the longer you simmer. For this recipe, we don’t want the ginger to take over, so we aren’t simmering for too long. After all, the peaches are the real star here.
After the cream cools and just before serving your crisp, strain out the ginger, add a little powdered sugar, and whip the cream. I use a hand mixer for this because it forces me to stay and watch to avoid over-mixing. We’re not aiming for ginger-flavored butter here! Stop mixing when the cream thickens to soft peaks.
It’s kind of fun to try whipping cream by hand but it’s definitely an arm workout! If you want to try, grab a large balloon whisk like this one. It took me about 10 minutes of constant whipping by hand to reach soft peaks.
The powdered sugar adds a bit of sweetness, which you need in the cream, but also contains cornstarch, which will help stabilize your whipped cream so that it holds up better. The slight hint of ginger you will get from the finished whipped cream is perfect with the ginger peach crisp, carrying the warm ginger flavor throughout the dessert.
Not Just Dessert
While technically this does belong in the dessert category, it’s also an amazing breakfast dish, like baked oatmeal but with more fruit. If you manage to have leftovers of this wonderful dish, I strongly suggest you eat it slightly warmed alongside a cup of coffee in the morning.
As a dessert, this is the perfect end to a meal from the grill, like our Grilled Balsamic Chicken or Chicken Kebabs. Add some shredded chicken to our Fresh Corn and Quinoa Salsa for another easy meal that is the perfect beginning to a meal that ends with Ginger Peach Crisp with Ginger Infused Whipped Cream.
Enjoy!
Ginger Peach Crisp with Ginger-Infused Whipped Cream
Ingredients
- 1 pound (2-1/2 to 3 cups) pitted, peeled, and sliced peaches (about 4-5 large peaches)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 ounce (1/4 cup) almond flour
- 2 ounces (1/2 cup) old-fashioned oats
- 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) packed brown sugar
- 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) minced candied ginger or 1/8 ounce (1/2 tablespoon) fresh grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
Ginger-Infused Whipped Cream
- 8 ounces (1 cup) heavy whipping cream
- 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) candied ginger or 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) roughly chopped fresh ginger
- 1/2 ounce (2 tablespoons) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or butter an oven-safe 5×7 or similarly sized baking dish. Toss the peach slices with cornstarch, then place them evenly into your baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, brown sugar, candied ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Using a fork or pastry cutter, cut in the cold butter pieces until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated and no pockets of dry oats or flour remain. Crumble this mixture on top of the peaches until they are fully covered with an even layer of the topping.
- Place your dish on a baking sheet in case it bubbles over, then bake in your preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until the top is dark golden brown and the peach juices are bubbling. Move to a wire rack to cool.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and/or a dollop of ginger whipped cream on top.
- The crisp is best the day it is baked, but you can keep any leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Ginger-Infused Whipped Cream
- Heat the cream and ginger in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often, then turn off the heat, cover, and allow to cool in the pan. Once cooled, place the cream in the refrigerator until it is very cold. This may take several hours.
- Just before serving, strain the ginger pieces out of the cream, add the powdered sugar, and mix with a hand mixer until it forms soft peaks. Dollop the cream onto each serving of the peach crisp and serve immediately.
Notes
- I used uncrystallized candied ginger. Crystallized will add more sugar overall and fresh ginger will have a sharper bite.
- This recipe can be doubled and baked in a standard pie dish. The baking time will remain the same.
- This recipe is gluten free! Just be sure to buy certified gluten free oats.
- Make this recipe vegan by using plant-based butter instead of dairy butter in the topping and omitting the whipped cream.
