Growing up, we had a plum tree in our backyard. I have great memories of that tree, mostly of my Dad and me standing outside picking bags and bags of ripe, squishy plums. The plum tree produced what seemed like an endless amount of fruit for years and then one summer, nothing. It was so disappointing and I don’t really remember the reason for its failure other than it was just over.

If I recall correctly, the plum tree was the Elephant Heart variety, heart-shaped in appearance with tight, dark purple skin and speckled with red highlights. They were beautiful and always a welcome treat. The backyard plum tree solidified my love of this particular fruit. I can easily visualize my sticky fingers and white T-shirt covered in red plum juice as part of the experience.

Those memories inspired me to put together these individual Plum and Nectarine Crisps. Plums and nectarines, for that matter, are not just summer fruit. There are many late varieties still being harvested and available to enjoy through this time of year.

These little desserts will grace your Fall tables magnificently. The proportion of topping to fruit is high, making for lots of fruity-crispy bites. I also used