Fruit Crumble

Fruit Crumble

The buttery blend of oats and nuts in this easy, warm dessert stays nubby and crunchy while baking over the juicy fruit. (It also happens to be gluten-free.) A chai spice blend is especially nice in the mix, but other sweet-leaning spices like cinnamon and cardamom taste just as good. Any blend of fruit works, and keeping the peel on apples, pears and stone fruit not only streamlines the preparation but also adds a pleasant chewiness. If you want to go all berry, stick with fresh options; frozen fruit ends up too wet. (Thawed frozen berries work just fine with a mix of sturdy fresh apples and pears, though.) You don’t have to serve a warm bowl of this crumble with ice cream, but you probably want that creaminess swirling into the jammy fruit.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

For the Crumble

1½ cups/154 grams instant oats (see Tip)

¾ cup/150 grams sugar

½ cup/56 grams chopped pecans or walnuts

1 teaspoon chai spice or ground cinnamon (see Tip)

1 teaspoon fine salt

½ cup/114 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Fruit

2 pounds fruit, such as berries, pears, apples, peaches, plums or a combination

½ cup/100 grams sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch or flour (see Tip)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Prepare the crumble: Heat oven to 375 degrees with a rack in the center.

Mix the oats, sugar, nuts, chai spice and salt in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into cubes the size of dice and toss in. Use your fingers to smush the butter into the dry ingredients until no yellow bits remain and the blend forms clumps. Refrigerate uncovered while you prepare the fruit (or covered for up to 3 days).

Prepare the fruit: If you’re using big fruit, scrub it well, then cut into ½-inch pieces, about the same size as small blackberries or big blueberries. Throw out any pits, seeds or stems.

In a large bowl, mix the sugar and cornstarch. Add all the fruit, then the lemon juice and stir until well mixed. Scrape the fruit and any juices into a 9- or 10-inch ovenproof skillet and spread evenly.

Scatter the chilled crumble mixture evenly over the fruit, breaking any large clumps into smaller pebbles. Place the skillet on a sheet pan to catch any dripping fruit juices.

Bake until the fruit is bubbling, the liquid has thickened and the top is nicely browned, about 45 minutes. If the crumble darkens too much before the fruit mixture is thick, place a sheet of foil loosely on top. Cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Tips: If you want to make this gluten-free, be sure to use gluten-free oats and cornstarch.

You can also use a spice blend, such as apple pie spice or pumpkin spice, or a savory blend, like baharat.

*I make the crumble using equal parts butter, flour, oats and brown sugar. This can be multiplied ad infinitum, pressed into a slab and frozen. Then when I need it for the dessert, I just cut off a piece and chop it into crumble size.

Now, for the fruit - frozen berries are NOT too wet. Don't thaw them unless you like mush. Toss any combo of berries with cornstarch and a little grated lemon rind, then pour into oiled baking dish. Top with frozen crumble and bake till bubbling.

*Rebecca - you ask if regular oats can be subbed in for instant. Like you I never buy instant oats and while I haven't tried the regular oats in this recipe, haven't made it yet, I often make fruit crumbles during the year and when I use oats I always use Bob's Red Mill regular oats and it works great. When I make this, I am going to use those regular oats.

*This is similar to my cherry crumble recipe, I simmer a little brandy with the fruit. Give it a try!

*I made this on a cold, snowy day. The topping is great, esp with both pecans and walnuts. And the cooked fruit juices a perfect consistency. But the amount of sugar mixed in the fruit was way over the top. Ice cream or sweetened whipped cream would have made us gag. I was using apple and pears, which are naturally sweet, so a quarter or a third of the sugar called for would suffice. Suggest you adjust sugar wisely to fruit used.