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Recipe: Nutella Hazelnut Palmiers

19 Apr

By family decree, certain elements of our Easter Brunch can never be altered: the Breakfast Pizzas; the Pesto-Roasted Tomatoes, Red Onion, and Garlic with Pine Nuts; and the Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing. The ham comes and goes and the potatoes occasionally vary (Hashbrown Casserole has been a favorite for many years, but to the dismay of one of our sons, is being edged out this year by Country-Fried Potatoes with Bacon and Green Onions). Other dishes enter and exit as the urge strikes: this year, one of those “other” items will be Stuffed Mushrooms with Merguez Sausage and Spinach, which I realized I hadn’t made in a while.

The one area of Easter Brunch where more experimentation is allowed is the sweet section, which consists of 2-3 items chosen at whim. Today, I made these Nutella Hazelnut Palmiers while everyone was out hiking; I’ll need to hide them pretty soon, lest the returning teenagers and 20-somethings demolish them before tomorrow’s brunch. And before I “taste test” any more of them myself….

Palmiers

Nutella Hazelnut Palmiers
Makes about 30

1 (17.65 oz. ) pkg. puff pastry dough sheets, thawed
2 tbsp. raw sugar, divided in half
1 c. Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread), divided in half*
1/2 c. chopped hazelnuts, divided in half

Preparation

1. Lightly flour a clean, 12 x 12-inch spot on your counter. Sprinkle the spot with 1 tbsp. raw sugar.
2. The puff pastry dough package should contain two sheets. Unfold one of the sheets and place it on top of the  flour/sugar. Gently roll out the dough to the left and to the right until it is about 15-inches long (don’t worry about the width); you mostly want to embed the sugar into the underside of the dough.
3. Spread 1/2 c. Nutella onto the puff pastry sheet; sprinkle 1/4 c. chopped hazelnuts over the top.
4. Starting at the top long end, roll the dough toward you until you get to the middle of the pastry sheet. Now roll from the bottom end up to the middle. Bring the two rolls together, and place the log of dough seam-side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
5. Repeat with the second puff pastry sheet. Sprinkle the counter with more flour and the remaining tbsp. of sugar, top with the second pastry sheet, and gently roll the dough out. Spread with the remaining Nutella and sprinkle the remaining hazelnuts on top; roll up as indicated in Step 4. Place the second log of dough on the baking sheet, too, and then put the baking sheet in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up the dough.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Working with one  log of dough at a time, place on a cutting board and slice into 3/4-inch thick slices (or as close as you can get) with a serrated knife. Lay the palmiers flat side down on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet, with ample room between palmiers since they will expand.  You will need multiple baking sheets, or will need to bake in batches.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or so, until the palmiers are golden. (Keep an eye on them; baking time will depend on the thickness of the palmiers.)
9. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.
10. Enjoy!

* Can add up to 1/2 c. more Nutella ( 1/4 c. on each sheet) for sweeter but slightly messier palmiers.

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Recipe: White Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cake

8 Feb

In our house, we love dulce de leche (we are not at all averse to eating it by the spoonful), and we really love the pastry cake known as Torta Chilena (delicate, crispy layers of pastry laced with the rich, caramelly spread–see the recipe here). But Torta Chilena is quite labor intensive (a labor of love, but laborious nonetheless). I wanted to make a slightly less time-consuming cake featuring dulce de leche–one that was special in its own right. The result: this White Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cake. It’s a more traditional cake-like cake (if that makes sense), but has lots in it to love. It does require more time than a box mix (though using ready-made dulce de leche will reduce the prep time), but it is so worth it.


White Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cake

–Cake
2 ½ c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 c. white chocolate chips, melted and cooled
1 c. butter
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 c. buttermilk (or 1 tbsp. vinegar, plus enough milk to make 1 c.)

–Frosting
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ c. butter, softened
1 c. confectioner’s sugar
1 c. white chocolate chips, melted and cooled

—Filling 
1 recipe home-made dulce de leche (see directions below) — or use 1 (13.4-oz. can) prepared dulce de leche

Preparation
1. FILLING: To make dulce del leche, heat oven to 425º. Spray a glass casserole dish with cooking spray, pour both cans of condensed milk into it, cover the dish, and then set it in a bain marie (baño maria), which is a roasting pan filled with enough water to rise slightly above the level of the condensed milk in the casserole dish. Bake for about 2 hours, stirring periodically, until golden brown. Set aside and let cool. (This is the dulce de leche – there will be extra left over). If using prepared (canned) dulce de leche, proceed to making the cake. Note: you may need to vigorously stir (or even slightly heat) canned dulce de leche to make it spreadable.
2. CAKE: Reduce oven temperature to 350º.  In a glass bowl, heat the 1 c. white chocolate chips in a microwave in 30-second bursts, stirring after each, until chocolate is mostly melted. [Note: be careful with the melting process; overcooked white chocolate turns into a hard lump.] Stir the chocolate until it is completely smooth and let cool. Spray 4 cake pans with cooking spray, line with parchment paper, and spray the parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Gradually beat in the eggs and egg whites, then add the melted white chocolate and incorporate. Add half the flour mixture, mix in, add half of the buttermilk, mix in and repeat. Spread the cake batter evenly into the 4 pans. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until knife/toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cool.
3. FROSTING:  Beat cream cheese, butter, and confectioner’s sugar together in medium bowl until smooth, then stir in 1 c. melted white chocolate chips (see note in #2 about melting white chocolate).
4. ASSEMBLY: Place 1 cake layer on plate/stand. Frost the layer with 1/3 of the dulce de leche, then with 1/6 of the frosting–just enough for a very thin layer; you want to be sure to have enough frosting left for the outside of the cake. Continue stacking layers, and use remaining frosting to frost top and sides of cake. Chill 1 hour before serving.

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Recipe: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream

12 Aug

I love ice cream and adore oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. And when temperatures soar, I think of cool things to eat. So what could be better than cinnamon ice cream with chunks of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough on a hot summer day? Not much. (Though I confess I’d eat this on a cold winter day, too.)

There are no eggs in the cookie dough (hence, it is quite safe to eat, meaning some of it may not make it into the ice cream). And since homemade ice cream doesn’t contain stabilizers, this is one dessert to eat immediately upon serving; if you are like me, you will not need any coaxing on that front…. It also does not last as long in the freezer as regular ice cream does (homemade ice cream tends to get icy after a few days), so you will have no choice but to eat this in a timely manner.

Final note: it’s important to freeze the ice cream for a while after you make it (as opposed to eating it immediately).The ice cream maker can get it most of the way there, but this will need some finishing time to get as firm as commercial ice cream. Having said that, feel free to ignore this advice if you like a soft-serve consistency (or are desperate to taste your creation).

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Makes about 1 quart

Ice Cream
2 eggs
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
2 c. heavy cream
1 c. whole milk
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

Cookie Dough
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
2.5 tbsp. whole-wheat flour
1/3 c. quick oats
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. canola oil
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4  c. mini chocolate chips

Preparation

1. Whisk eggs for 1-2 minutes until light and creamy. Add about 1/3  of the sugar, whisk well, and repeat until all sugar has been incorporated.
2. Add cream and milk, then add vanilla and cinnamon and stir to combine.
3. Prepare ice cream in ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
4. When ice cream is done, quickly fold in Cookie Dough mixture, and place in freezer-proof container. Cover container and freeze for at least two hours before serving.

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Recipe: Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Squares

7 Jul

Okay, after my recent post about prolific zucchini plants, it was only a matter of time before some zucchini recipes started showing up on the blog. And seeing as I have a serious sweet tooth, I went straight for something chocolaty, moist, and doubly satisfying (because, after all, these Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Squares not only taste good, they also contain vegetables and nuts, so can almost be regarded as a health food….). Well, I’m planning on regarding them that way. If you use dark chocolate, even better: you’ll be adding some beneficial flavonoids to the mix. I dubbed this recipe “Chocolate Chunk” because I didn’t have any chocolate chips on hand today, but I did have some dark chocolate bars that I was happy to chop up and sacrifice to the greater good.

Chocolate Chunk Zucchini Squares
Servings: 9

4 tbsp. butter, room temperature
2/3 c. dark brown sugar, packed
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. finely grated zucchini, squeezed as dry as possible (try to end up with 1 c. total)
1 c. all-purpose flour (can also use 1/4 c. whole wheat, 3/4 c. all-purpose)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. chocolate chunks or chocolate chips (about 3 oz. total)

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8×8 baking pan with baking spray.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together; add egg and vanilla and stir until mixture is light and smooth. Add zucchini and mix in well.
3. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, walnuts, and chocolate chunks/chips.
4. Add dry mixture to wet mixture; stir just to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
5. Let cool before cutting into squares.

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Recipe: Triple Lemon Cake

14 Jun

When the kids were little, I used to make them specially decorated cakes: a pick-up truck cake with candy in the back (as if the cake and ice cream weren’t enough), a dinosaur cake, a cake that looked like a pumpkin (two Bundt cakes on top of each other,  covered with orange frosting, with a bit of stem coming out the top), a soccer field cake, etc. As the children got older, the decorations decreased–but not the cake requests.

Of all the cake options available, this Triple Lemon Cake is the most requested (with the Mexican Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze offering stiff competition). It has triple the tang because lemon appears in the batter, syrup, and glaze. If I could find a fourth way to get more lemon into the cake, I would. But it is really nice just the way it is, and is a good cake for spring/summer.

Triple Lemon Cake

Cake
1/2 lb. butter, at room temperature
2 c. sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. buttermilk (a good substitute: put 1 tbsp. vinegar in a measuring cup, then add milk to make 1 c.)
2 tbsp. tightly packed grated lemon zest (from about 4 lemons)
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice (the 4 lemons should provide enough juice for the batter, syrup, and glaze)

Syrup
1 c. confectioners’ sugar
½ c. butter, melted
1/3 c. fresh lemon juice

Glaze
fresh lemon juice
confectioner’s sugar

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Carefully and very thoroughly grease and flour a Bundt pan.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, blending well each time.
4. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture, stir to combine, add about 1/2 of the buttermilk, stir, and repeat, ending with last bit of flour mixture and ensuring it is well incorporated. Gently stir in the lemon zest and juice. Note: The batter will be thick.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, smoothing the top as evenly as possible. Cook for an hour in the middle of the oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Sometimes, it may take longer than an hour to cook.
6. Toward the end of the baking time, prepare the syrup: melt the butter and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat, then stir in the confectioner’s sugar. Bring to a quick boil just before using.
7. When the cake is done, remove from oven. Poke holes in the cake with a long skewer, then pour the hot syrup over the cake. Let the cake sit for about 20-30 minutes.
8. Put a large plate (or platter) upside down on top of the cake pan and invert the pan and plate together so the cake drops neatly onto the plate. Actually, I have rarely had the cake drop neatly onto the plate; I just always hope it will. It usually requires a lot of jiggling and careful loosening of the sides. And even then, the cake doesn’t always come out of the pan cleanly. So, grease and flour the Bundt pan heavily beforehand, and use a liberal amount of glaze on the cake afterward, to cover up any less-than-perfect parts (as I did for the cake in the phot0).
9. Glaze the cake: the amount of glaze is entirely up to you; I start off with about 2-3 c. of confectioner’s sugar, then add a few drops of lemon juice at a time until the glaze is a good consistency (and then if it looks like I don’t have enough glaze or if it is too thin, I add more sugar and keep going). Sometimes, I drizzle a thicker glaze on the cake first (also good for filling in rough spots), then add a slightly thinner one for contrast.

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Recipe: Raspberry Oatmeal Bars

25 Feb

Quick, easy, and full of oaty goodness, these bars work multiple jobs: they can be a snack, dessert, or even part of breakfast. They are also a good way to use up jam or preserves if, like us, you have a variety of half-full jam jars in the fridge (a state of affairs that arises when family members each have a favorite). Whenever I want to clear out the fridge, I make these bars. But truthfully, fridge clearing isn’t the main reason to make these; we quite frequently open new jars of jam just for this recipe, starting the cycle all over again. The bars are worth it.

This weekend, I actually did use up all that remained of a jar of regular raspberry preserves, but there wasn’t quite enough for the recipe. Solution? I topped up the measuring cup with a bit of black raspberry jam. That’s the other good thing about these oatmeal bars –they are very versatile: a blackberry, blueberry, cherry, or strawberry/rhubarb filling would work quite nicely, too.

Raspberry Oatmeal Bars
9 or 16 servings

3 c. quick-cooking oats
2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. canola oil
1/2 c. maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. raspberry (or other fruit) preserves/jam, stirred until smooth

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×9-inch baking pan with cooking spray (or lightly oil the pan).
2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine wet ingredients, and add to dry ingredients, mixing well.
4. Put half of oat mixture into baking pan, and press firmly and evenly into place with the back of a spoon.
5. Spread the preserves/jam evenly over the oat layer. Loosely cover the filling with the remaining oat mixture.
6. Bake for 35-40 minutes; let cool 15 minutes before serving.
7. Cut into 9 squares for hearty servings, or 16 squares for smaller bites.

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Recipe: Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

16 Jan

When it comes to baked goods, there are few things I don’t love. I’m especially fond of baked goods with oats in them (oatmeal cookies, layered oat bars with jam, fruit crisps with an oat-based topping…). And pumpkin (pumpkin brownies, pumpkin bread/cake, pumpkin pancakes…). And chocolate (the list is infinite). And I mustn’t forget walnuts….

So what could be better than all of those things combined in one cookie? Not much. These are soft and full of flavor and texture. My husband made these one night after I was pining for something sweet, and they were all gone by the next afternoon (but lest you think the worst, I had lots of help eating them).

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies © G. Stansbury

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yield: 4 dozen cookies

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/3 c. rolled oats
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. canola oil
2 tbsp. molasses
1 c.  canned pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 c.  chocolate chips

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two cookie sheets.
2. Mix together first six ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together sugars, molasses, pumpkin, and vanilla until very well combined.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet ones, folding to combine. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips.
5. Drop by tablespoons onto prepared sheets, one inch apart. Flatten tops of cookies with a fork or your finger.
6. Bake for 16 minutes or until golden on bottom, rotating sheets half way through.
7. Remove from oven, cool on baking sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack or clean counter. These taste best cool, and are especially good the next day.

Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

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Recipe: Mexican Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

8 Jan

There are some recipes you turn to again and again because they are deeply satisfying. This is one of them — a dark, rich chocolate Bundt cake heightened with hints of coffee and cinnamon. It is a frequently requested birthday cake at our house, made most recently for my son’s 21st birthday this week — with the addition of some Espresso Chip ice cream to complement the flavor.

Mexican Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Cake
3 c. all purpose flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
4 tsp.  cinnamon
1/2 c. cocoa powder
3 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 c. canola oil
2 tbsp. white distilled vinegar
2 c. coffee at room temperature  (or warm water mixed with 1-2 tbsp. instant espresso powder)
1-2 c. chocolate chips (preferably dark chocolate, if available)

Glaze
3/4 c. chocolate chips
3 tbsp. non-hydrogenated buttery spread such as Earth Balance/Smart Balance
1 tbsp. light corn syrup
1/4 tsp. vanilla

Preparation

Cake
1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Generously grease (with vegetable shortening) and lightly flour a Bundt pan.
2. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl until thoroughly combined. Make a well in the center, and add wet ingredients. Stir until just combined, and fold in chocolate chips.
3. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until skewer inserted into cake comes out clean; be careful not to overbake.
4. Cool for about 20 minutes, then turn out onto plate or serving platter. Cool completely and top with Chocolate Glaze.

Glaze
1. Melt first three ingredients on low power in microwave, stir until smooth, add vanilla, and drizzle over cake.

Adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking, by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

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Recipe: Dulce de Leche Pastry Cake (Torta Chilena)

26 Nov

When I was in college,  I sampled an exquisite confection that has forever remained seared on my memory: Torta Chilena. It was a cake with eight crispy layers filled with dulce de leche (caramelized sweet milk).  I immediately requested the recipe from the Costa Rican lady who made it, and it has since followed me across continents and years to be pulled out on special occasions.

Torta Chilena is a beloved Costa Rican dessert. So why, you may ask, is it called a “Chilean Cake”?  In Chile, a very similar dessert is called Torta Mil Hojas (“Thousand-Layer Cake”), which is itself a variation on the mille-feuille theme. But instead of being filled with custard, as the French versions are, the Latin American versions are filled with dulce de leche.  Latin Americans love dulce de leche, so it is a natural adaptation. I surmise that a Chilean with a fondness for sweets settled in Costa Rica, made the dessert to great acclaim, and helped start the national craze for Torta Chilena. However this cake originated, I am deeply grateful.

Note: One popular way to make dulce de leche is to cook unopened cans of sweetened condensed milk in boiling water for 2-3 hours. The problem with this method is that the occasional can explodes. So, I’ve always preferred making it in the oven in a bain-marie (water bath, also known as a baño maría in Spanish).

Torta Chilena
[Updated 12-15-12]

Pastry
2 c. flour (250 gr.)
1 tbsp. sugar
½ lb. butter (2 sticks, 227 gr.)
¼ + 1/8 c. white wine (90 ml.)

Dulce de Leche Filling
2 cans (14 oz./400 gr. each) sweetened condensed milk

powdered sugar

Preparation
1. Dulce de Leche filling: Heat oven to 425ºF/220ºC. Spray a glass casserole dish with cooking spray, pour both cans of condensed milk into it, cover the dish, and then set it in a deep roasting pan filled with enough water to rise slightly above the level of the condensed milk in the casserole dish. Bake covered for about 3 hours until golden brown (stirring vigorously 2-3 times during the latter part of the cooking process to avoid lumps). Set aside. This is the dulce de leche; you can make it ahead of time, but if you are not using immediately, refrigerate it and bring to room temperature before using.

 

2. Pastry: Put flour and sugar in a large bowl, cut in butter, then add ¼ c. (60 ml.) wine, mix thoroughly, then add remaining 1/8 c. wine (30 ml.). Mix thoroughly. Turn dough out onto well-floured surface, shape into a log and cut into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Draw 9-inch (23 cm.) circles on baking/parchment paper (I used a  plate and traced around it). Turn sheets of paper over so dough doesn’t come into contact with pen/pencil marks, then place 1 ball of dough in center of the circle, and use fingers to spread out to edges. Dough will be very thin.

3. Preheat oven to 300ºF/150ºC.  Bake pastry circles until slightly golden (exact time will depend on your oven; start checking at about 8-10 minutes–the circles should look “cooked,” but not brown). When cool, very carefully remove each pastry circle from paper; circles will be wafer-like and fragile. Place a small dab of dulce de leche on a round platter, then gently position the first pastry circle on top. Press carefully to stabilize the circle on the platter, then spread with roughly 1/7 of the dulce de leche (doing so as lightly as possible). Put the next cooked pastry circle on top, spread with dulce de leche, and repeat with all the layers except the top one – sift powdered sugar on top of that one. Some layers may crack; press the pieces onto the dulce de leche base, and try to reserve the best layer for the top.
4. Enjoy.

*For another cake that features dulce de leche, see this recipe.

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Recipe: Persimmon Cranberry Crisp

18 Nov

In the past, the closest I have come to persimmons was drinking a cool, delicate dessert drink at Korean restaurants. Soo Jeung Gwa (many different spellings) is a sweet, jewel-colored palate refresher, and I was intrigued to learn that it is made from dried persimmons. But still,  I did not encounter any actual, fresh persimmons until recently, when I saw some  Fuyu persimmons at the grocery store and impulsively bought them because they were so pretty:

But what to do with them? At first, nothing, since they were not ripe and I had heard horror stories about people biting into unripe Hachiya persimmons. Even though this isn’t a problem with Fuyus, I decided to wait just to be safe–and also to think about what to make with them. I settled upon a Persimmon Cranberry crisp, since in the United States, November is a cranberry time of year. Plus, I thought the two colors–orange and red–would look nice together. And finally, who doesn’t like a nice warm crisp, with vanilla ice cream at the ready?

The topping is one I have long used for fruit crisps: a very generous amount that is enough to top 6 c. of any type of fruit that you may fancy. It’s also vegan or omnivore friendly, depending on your preference. Note: I’m used to making big batches, but this recipe can easily be halved and made in an 8×8 or 9×9 pan.

Persimmon Cranberry Crisp
Serves 12-15

Orange-Wine Syrup
1/4 c. red wine (whatever is on hand)
1 tsp. orange zest
1/4 c. fresh orange juice
1 star anise
2/3 c. sugar

Fruit
4 c. fresh cranberries (float in a large bowl of cold water, carefully pick through and remove any that are soft, but make sure you end up with 4 c.)
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. fresh orange juice
5 Fuyu persimmons, diced (cut out leafy core at top, slice in half, peel, and then dice)

Topping
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c. oats (can be old-fashioned or quick oats, or a mix)
1/3 c. chopped walnuts
1 c. dark brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. non-hydrogenated margarine (or butter)
1/2 c. canola oil

Preparation
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly spray (or grease) a 9×13 baking pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine wine, zest, orange juice, star anise, and sugar. Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; discard the star anise.
3. Add the cranberries to the syrup in the saucepan. Combine the cornstarch with the 1 tbsp. orange juice, pour over cranberries, and mix well. Fold in diced persimmons, then pour fruit mixture into prepared pan.
4. For topping, combine first five ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in margarine/butter and canola oil until evenly distributed and topping becomes clumpy.
5. Using very clean hands, take a small handful of topping and squeeze it together. Break it into a couple pieces and begin placing strategically on top of fruit mixture in prepared pan. (The objective is to have some topping chunks, rather than just crumbs.) Repeat with all the topping, filling in gaps with more topping pieces/crumbs.
6. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until crisp looks golden and bubbly. Let cool for about 10-15 minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream.

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