An excerpt from Ruth Reichl’s Gourmet Weekly e-newsletter—

The first California apricots showed up at the market this week, which makes me absurdly happy. Fresh apricots, with their understated tartness, make the best—and easiest—desserts. You don’t even need a knife to cut them. Here’s my favorite crumble:

• 2 pounds apricots
• 1 stick butter
• 3/4 C. sugar
• 3/4 C. flour
• Grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pull apart 2 pounds of apricots, remove pits, and put apricots in a pie plate.

If you don’t have 2 pounds of apricots or want to include berries into the mix, add an assortment of blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, etc. to equal 2 pounds of fruit total.

Melt 1 stick of butter and stir in 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup flour. Grate in a bit of fresh nutmeg and cover apricots with the mixture. Bake for about 40 minutes and serve warm, with vanilla ice cream.