Getting Creative with Crumble

Credit: Jenn Chic

Quick and easy, crumble is the perfect dessert to make with your family

This crumble recipe will satisfy your craving – no matter what the season

Crumble is one of the best desserts. Easily tailor-made to celebrate the season’s bounty – rhubarb and berries in the spring, peaches, plums, nectarines and cherries in the summer, a variety of apples in the fall, and whatever the freezer holds in the winter – it’s easy to make and more than satisfying to eat.

Crumble is perfect for brunch or dessert and can be whipped together within an hour. Get kids in the kitchen and make those little fingers rub the topping together. They’ll quickly learn how delicious and fun cooking can be.

Encourage your creativity to shine and boost the nutritional content of your next crumble by pumping up the topping with seeds and nuts or jazzing up the filling with a combination of fruit and additional flavours.

DIY Creative Crumble

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Ingredients

Topping:

• ¾ cups butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup flour (gluten-free flours work well for gluten-free friends)
• 3/4 cup grains – any combination of rolled oats, cornmeal, millet, quinoa flakes, barley flakes
• ½ cup seeds and nuts – any combination of sunflower seeds, hemp seeds, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, flax meal
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 2 ¼ lbs fruit – rhubarb*, berries, stone-fruit, apples
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Optional additions: grated fresh ginger, grated orange or lemon zest, vanilla or cinnamon

* Rhubarb compote works well for a more mellow flavour. Grated apple added to any crumble adds pectin, which naturally thickens up juicier fruit. In the fall, keep apples in chunks, though.

Instructions

1. Mix together all the topping ingredients and rub together with fingers until the butter is broken down to pea-sized chunks and well-incorporated. At this point, the topping can be frozen and used later.
2. Stir together all the filling ingredients until well combined.
3. Put the fruit filling into an oven-safe dish – 9 x 11-inch for a thinner crumble, 9-inch round for a thicker crumble.
4. Cover with the topping and bake for about 40 minutes, until bubbly.
5. Let rest at least 5 minutes before serving.

Warm and scrumptious, crumble is a dessert loved by adults and kids alike (Image: Jenn Chic)

In the recipe pictured, the combination was rolled oats, millet, quinoa flakes and pumpkin seeds for the topping and rhubarb compote, grated apple, blueberries, strawberries, grated ginger and lemon zest for the filling.