Prep Time : 15 Minutes | Cook Time : 30 Minutes | Total Time : 1 hour | Difficulty : Easy
Hello my lovelies! I have crumble on the brain. While my brain does crumble from time to time that’s not what I meant. I had a couple of my favourite people over on Saturday and one of them brought a delicious apple crumble. And now all I want is more crumble. More soft saucy fruit. More crisp buttery topping. More melty vanilla ice cream. Hopefully you can’t think of anything else now either. Sorry not sorry.
Crumble is a magical thing. It’s easy as anything to make. It scales up and down to suit any sized crowd. It can be as simple or fancy as you like. It adapts to any fruit you have. You put it in the oven while you eat your dinner and presto it’s ready when you are. And everyone loves it even people who think they’re too fancy for that sort of thing. Today we’re using seasonal pears and a couple of their favourite partners in crime. Raspberries for bright pops of summery flavour. Almonds for buttery crunch. Cardamom for warming spice. This recipe is enough for 6 individual ramekins or a small baking dish (around 8 inches in diameter). You can prep the crumble well in advance if you want to serve it as a dessert for guests – just prep the fruit and the topping and assemble once the fruit is cold. Just pop it in the oven about 45 minutes before serving so they will have about 10 minutes to cool so no one burns their tongue!
Heat the oven to 180C (350F). First up let’s get our fruit cooked. Pears do cook very quickly so they could go into the dish raw but this is a bit of insurance. Peel, core and dice the pears. you want about 2 inch pieces. Pop them in a deep frying pan with the water, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla and pop them on a low heat.
Cook the pears covered for sbout 10 minutes until the pieces are starting to soften. If the pan gets dry add a tablespoon or two of water.
Sprinkle over the flour and stir to distribute. Any liquid in the bottom of the pan with thicken and be a bit gloppy. This is ok – the pears will release more liquid in the oven and it will end up saucy rather than runny later.
Transfer the pear mixture to your baking dish or ramekins. Sprinkle over the raspberries.
In a large bowl mix all the dry crumble ingredients together. That’s it.
Use your hands to make sure the butter is evenly mixed through and to fluff it up a bit at the end. It will seem very buttery. This is good.
Sprinkle the crumble over the fruit. Pinch it together into clumps a little bit as you sprinkle an even layer.
Pop the dish onto a rimmed baking sheet (in case of bubble over) and bake for 25 to 35 minutes until the top is deep golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the middle comes out hot to the touch.
Leave the crumble to cool for 10 minutes to reduce the temperature from nuclear to edible.
Serve with vanilla ice cream. Or custard. You know all the good stuff.
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Pear, Raspberry + Almond Crumble
Prep Time : 15 mins | Cook Time : 30 mins | Total Time : 1 hour | Difficulty : Easy
Makes : 6 servings
Sweet tender pears and bright raspberries topped with buttery almond crumble – perfect with ice cream.
Ingredients:
For the fruit:
- 4 to 5 large firm pears (I used beurre bosc)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup (70 grams) all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup (50 grams) ground almonds
- 1/2 cup (55 grams) porridge oats
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) soft brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (25 grams) sliced almonds
- 1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened desiccated coconut
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, melted
– If using metric cups, reduce volume measures by 1 tablespoon for every cup of dry or liquid ingredients –
Equipment:
- a deep 8 to 9 inch pie dish or 6 large ramekins
- A large frying pan or skillet with a lid
- bowls and spoons
Directions:
Heat the oven to 180C (350F). First up let’s get our fruit cooked. Pears do cook very quickly so they could go into the dish raw but this is a bit of insurance. Peel, core and dice the pears. you want about 2 inch pieces. Pop them in a deep frying pan with the water, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla and pop them on a low heat.
Cook the pears covered for about 10 minutes until the pieces are starting to soften. If the pan gets dry add a tablespoon or two of water.
Sprinkle over the flour and stir to distribute. Any liquid in the bottom of the pan with thicken and be a bit gloppy. This is ok – the pears will release more liquid in the oven and it will end up saucy rather than runny later.
Transfer the pear mixture to your baking dish or ramekins. Sprinkle over the raspberries.
In a large bowl mix all the dry crumble ingredients together. That’s it.
Use your hands to make sure the butter is evenly mixed through and to fluff it up a bit at the end. It will seem very buttery. This is good.
Sprinkle the crumble over the fruit. Pinch it together into clumps a little bit as you sprinkle an even layer.
Pop the dish onto a rimmed baking sheet (in case of bubble over) and bake for 25 to 35 minutes until the top is deep golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the middle comes out hot to the touch.
Leave the crumble to cool for 10 minutes to reduce the temperature from nuclear to edible.
Serve with vanilla ice cream. Or custard. You know all the good stuff.
Cook’s Notes:
- Use any fruit you have on hand – just combine a sweet juicy fruit with something a little more tart for a good balance of flavour
- Use your imagination when it comes to the topping – add diced candied ginger, other spices or chopped nuts, or even white chocolate chips to add more flavour and texture.
– This crumble is best eaten warm and while it will lose it’s crunch after the first day it can be reheated with ease in the microwave for 2 to 3 more days –
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