GF/CF Fruit Dessert

We celebrated Steve's forty-something-eth birthday on Friday, and, since he prefers semi-healthy treats, I baked a fruit dessert in lieu of cake and frosting. Between missing ingredients and stripping it of gluten and casein, I revised a recipe from a church cookbook in a major way. If you have a sweet tooth, you may want to add up to a cup of sugar to the filling. It must have passed the taste test, for it vanished in less than 24 hours!

Filling:
1 21-ounce can cherry pie filling
1 20-ounce can crushed pineapple
1 15-ounce can peaches (lite syrup)
1 15-ounce can pears (lite syrup)
1/3 cup tapioca
2 cups fruit juice (drained from fruit)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar and tapioca with liquid. Let stand for five minutes. Cook and stir constantly until thickened. Add the remaining filling ingredients, dicing any that need it.

Crust:
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup buttery sticks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup gluten-free oats
1 cup gluten-free cornflake crumbs
2 cups all-purpose gluten-free baking flour

In a separate bowl, cream brown sugar and buttery sticks. Beat in the rest of the crust ingredients. Press 2/3 of the mixture in a 10 x 13 inch pan. Spoon in fruit filling.

Topping:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut

Mix the rest of the crust mixture with the nuts and coconut. Crumble over the fruit filling.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. If the topping gets too brown, cover the dish with aluminum foil.