A crumble or a crisp whatever you call it there is no reason not to make this simple delicious dessert. In the summer you have so very many seasonal fruits to choose from and all sorts of delicious combinations. I used peaches and blueberries today because the peaches are amazingly beautiful and I had an abundance of blueberries. Any stone fruit, berries, or pitted cherries will work. In the Fall I make this with apples and pears which is Joel’s favorite of all time. The fruit comes out soft and tender and the crumbly crunchy cap is ever so crisp. Delicious served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
I used an 8×11 pyrex but any baking dish around that size will work out just fine.
You’ll need a food processor to do the crisp topping this way. You must use cold butter straight out of fridge. I also added a little bit of chopped nuts but this is totally optional.
Plums and Nectarines work just as well. I also sprinkled a dash of cinnamon on the top (just a touch) right before baking , this is also totally optional.
Ingredients:
Fruit Mixture:
app. 8 cups sliced stone fruit, berries or pitted cherries I used peaches which I pitted, peeled and sliced and 1 container of blueberries (6 oz.)
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. Corn Starch
1 tsp. finely grated orange zest ( almost a whole orange)
2 Tbsp. of freshly squeezed orange juice from zested orange
pinch of kosher salt
In a large bowl toss fruit, sugar, cornstarch, salt, zest and juice together with a spoon. Set aside. I also sprayed baking dish with Bakers Aid cooking spray which is great stuff.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Crumble Topping:
Ingredients:
3/4 + 1/4 cup of old-fashioned oats separated. 3/4 cup will be used at beginning and 1/4 cup at end.
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar ( firmly packed)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick chilled unsalted butter , straight out of fridge and this is important here. Butter should be diced into small pieces. Cut stick in half then cut into small uniform pieces.
Directions for crumble topping:
In the bowl of food processor with blade , pulse oats, flour, light brown sugar, salt together. Then through the top tube drop in diced cold butter and pulse until no dry spots remain, it takes a few minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add in 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats with your fingers.
Transfer fruit mixture to prepared baking dish, scatter crumble topping over the mixture. I added some chopped nuts and a little cinnamon at this point. Place baking dish on a baking sheet ( sprayed with cooking spray as well) and bake at 375 degrees for at least 50 minutes, check on it. You don’t want to pull it out too soon because you want the crumble to brown perfectly and the fruit will not thicken. You’ll know it’s ready by the color of the crumble topping.
Allow to cool for an hour.
You can heat up before eating at 250 degrees covered for about a 1/2 hour should be enough.
You can freeze this as well. Take out the night before you’ll want it and let it defrost in the refrigerator, the next day take it out and let it come to room temperature before re-heating. I freeze it often and it works out quite well.
This is a delicious easy to make Chocolate Fudgy Brownie. Perfect for Valentines Day , as it is such a Chocolatey Holiday. I have always had a rather large sweet tooth and Valentines Day always meant candy, chocolate, dessert of one kind or another and it was always up there with my other favorite , Halloween for pretty much the same reasons. How can you not like a holiday that has so much sweetness? Make this brownie anytime and top with ice cream and chocolate sauce for an incredibly killer dessert. I personally cut them up into small pieces and don’t feel as guilty when I eat them. I came in today from being out all day and saw them on the cake stand and because I had cut them up so small, I indulged in two pieces and it just hit the spot!!! Make no mistake these are the real deal, and I never really understand why anyone would use a mix when this is so easy and all the ingredients are so readily available. And you have bragging rights for Homemade. Just make sure you use an 8 x 8 baking dish, this really does make a difference. Enjoy and Happy V-Day!!!!
Cooking with Candi 