My husband and I recently moved into our first house, and one of my favorite things about the place are two loquat trees out front. If you happen to live in Riverside, you know what I’m talking about. These trees are everywhere. The only way I can describe the taste of a loquat is peachy-grapey, unlike their citrusy cousin, the kumquat. I looked up different things I could do with our overabundance of loquats and this was my favorite recipe.

Ingredients

4 cups loquats, seeded and quartered

4 apples, peeled and sliced

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

Vanilla ice cream (optional but highly recommended!)

Note: After making this, I realized I should have divided the recipe in half. There are only two of us and this creates the obligation to eat it all—which I will do without hesitation!

 

 

Directions
  1. Wash and cut the fruits. For loquats, be sure to scrub the fuzz off the outer part, then cut the bottom off, squeeze out the seeds, and quarter the remaining piece of fruit. This may take a while because you’ll need a lot of loquats!
  2. Preheat oven to 375° and butter a 9″ baking dish.
  3. Toss the loquats and apples together in a large bowl with the vanilla and lemon juice. Pour into the baking dish.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients and cut in the butter. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, use two butter knives, slicing through the butter in an “x” motion until combined; or just use your hands! Mix it together until it has a crumbly consistency.

5. Pour this mixture evenly over the fruit, covering it completely.

 

6. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

7. If you like, top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy!