Individual fruit crisps with cinnamon-vanilla ice cream

This recipe makes 3 peach and 3 cherry crisps. The ice cream is made by mixing cinnamon into store-bought vanilla ice cream and refreezing it. We call for fresh cherries, but frozen ones will work just as well; you’ll need to adjust amounts in step 3: Reduce the brown sugar to π cup and increase the cornstarch to 2 tablespoons.

2 pints vanilla ice cream, softened slightly

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 large peaches (about 1 1/4 pounds)

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup packed dark-brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 cups sour cherries (about 14 ounces), pitted

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/ 4 cup granulated sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup sliced blanched almonds (1 1/2 ounces), Toasted

• Make the cinnamon-vanilla ice cream: Cover the bottom of an 8-inch-square baking dish with onethird of the ice cream; smooth into an even layer. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Repeat to make 2 more ice-cream layers, sprinkling each with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until ready to use, at least 45 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350F. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Cut a small, shallow X in the bottom of each peach. Blanch the peaches until the skins begin to loosen, about 30 seconds; drain. Peel and pit the peaches, and then cut into 1/ 4 -inch-thick wedges. Transfer to a bowl; toss with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/ 4 cup brown sugar, the ginger, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Set aside.
• Put the cherries in a bowl; toss with ÿ cup brown sugar and the remaining tablespoon lemon juice and cornstarch.
• Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, the remaining 1/ 4 cup brown sugar, and the granulated sugar in a medium bowl. Blend in the butter with a pastry blender or two knives until it resembles coarse meal. Stir in the almonds. Squeeze to form a crumbly topping.
• Fill 6 mini foil pie plates (each 4 1/ 4 inches in diameter and 11/ 4 inches high) with fruit, 3 with cherry mixture and 3 with peach mixture. Transfer to rimmed baking sheets; divide the topping among the fruit pies. Bake until the juices are bubbling, about 30 minutes. Let the crisps cool slightly; serve warm with scoops of cinnamon-vanilla ice cream.

SERVES 6