I was married in October, the celebration was fantastic! Everything went off without a hitch and the cheese cake was the talk of the party. Yes, you read that right, our cake was made of delicious cheeses. As you can see, there was a lot of fruit involved in the decorating.
At the end of the night, we took home a ton of fruit. I had designs on eating it all, but much of it was bruised and dented from being tossed into a bed of a truck at the end of the night. It also sat in our house for days after that, which resulted in very, very ripe pears. Personally, I think the best way to deal with ugly and over ripe fruit is to cook it. After taking inventory of my cupboards, I decided to throw together a crumble.
The nice thing about a crumble is that one can argue that it is perfectly acceptable for breakfast. It has fruit and whole oats, both of which are part of a balanced breakfast. After bringing this to work, I was asked for the recipe and I had to think hard on what I actually did to make it. I was distracted by company and not really paying attention when it was assembled. However, the basic points are pretty simple. Use very ripe fruit and spices you enjoy, top it with a buttery, crumbly oat mix and bake. I am a fiend for cloves, so I tend to use a lot. Exact measurements are not needed. With that in mind, here are my best guesstimates on what went into my tasty fall fruit crumble.
Crumble Topping
½ C flour
1 ½ C oats
1/3 C coarse chopped hazelnuts
½ C packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp fresh grated nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 TBS (a stick) unsalted butter, room temp
Filling
6-7 apples – I used Honey Crisp, Tango and Golden Delicious
4 pears – two red, two Bosc
The zest and juice of one lemon
½ C packed brown sugar (more if the fruit is not as ripe)
3 TBS cornstarch
1 ½ tsp cloves
½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1 TBS cinnamon
½ tsp mace
A pinch of kosher salt
The Process
To make the crumble:
Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Cut or pinch the butter into 8-10 chunks and toss the pieces into to the bowl.
Pinch, fold and work the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. You could use a pastry cutter or a fork as well, but fingers really work best.
To make the filling:
Peel, core and cut the fruit into quarters.
Slice into bite size pieces. You will get sticky. I think I washed my hands 10 times during this process.
In a large bowl, toss the fruit with the lemon juice.
In a separate (small) bowl, mix the dry ingredients and the lemon zest.
Add the dry stuff to the fruit a little at a time, tossing with each addition until it’s evenly distributed.
Taste it. Is it too sweet? Add more lemon juice. Too sour? Add more sugar.
Is it delicious? Throw the fruit in a 13x9 glass baking dish and top with the crumble.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes until the top is browned and the juices are bubbly
This can be served hot or cold.
Happy Nomming!
At the end of the night, we took home a ton of fruit. I had designs on eating it all, but much of it was bruised and dented from being tossed into a bed of a truck at the end of the night. It also sat in our house for days after that, which resulted in very, very ripe pears. Personally, I think the best way to deal with ugly and over ripe fruit is to cook it. After taking inventory of my cupboards, I decided to throw together a crumble.
The nice thing about a crumble is that one can argue that it is perfectly acceptable for breakfast. It has fruit and whole oats, both of which are part of a balanced breakfast. After bringing this to work, I was asked for the recipe and I had to think hard on what I actually did to make it. I was distracted by company and not really paying attention when it was assembled. However, the basic points are pretty simple. Use very ripe fruit and spices you enjoy, top it with a buttery, crumbly oat mix and bake. I am a fiend for cloves, so I tend to use a lot. Exact measurements are not needed. With that in mind, here are my best guesstimates on what went into my tasty fall fruit crumble.
Crumble Topping
½ C flour
1 ½ C oats
1/3 C coarse chopped hazelnuts
½ C packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp fresh grated nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
8 TBS (a stick) unsalted butter, room temp
Filling
6-7 apples – I used Honey Crisp, Tango and Golden Delicious
4 pears – two red, two Bosc
The zest and juice of one lemon
½ C packed brown sugar (more if the fruit is not as ripe)
3 TBS cornstarch
1 ½ tsp cloves
½ tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1 TBS cinnamon
½ tsp mace
A pinch of kosher salt
The Process
To make the crumble:
Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Cut or pinch the butter into 8-10 chunks and toss the pieces into to the bowl.
Pinch, fold and work the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers until it resembles coarse crumbs. You could use a pastry cutter or a fork as well, but fingers really work best.
To make the filling:
Peel, core and cut the fruit into quarters.
Slice into bite size pieces. You will get sticky. I think I washed my hands 10 times during this process.
In a large bowl, toss the fruit with the lemon juice.
In a separate (small) bowl, mix the dry ingredients and the lemon zest.
Add the dry stuff to the fruit a little at a time, tossing with each addition until it’s evenly distributed.
Taste it. Is it too sweet? Add more lemon juice. Too sour? Add more sugar.
Is it delicious? Throw the fruit in a 13x9 glass baking dish and top with the crumble.
Bake at 375 for 45 minutes until the top is browned and the juices are bubbly
This can be served hot or cold.
Happy Nomming!
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