BAKING

{Baking} Stone Fruit Almond Crumble … baking in the midst of rubble, and LOVING it!!

2010/07/24 / 31 Comments
“Mind like a sieve these days and the attention span of a flea!!”  
Jeanne Horak @ Cooksister

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I love the quote above. Words from Jeanne @ CookSister in emails being exchanged a couple of days ago, much of it nonsensical light banter. It coined the way I felt, and I was absolutely taken in by the rhythm of the words! My foodie world has been thrown into disarray and I often feel at odds. It’s a world of rubble, heat and dust, the odd shower thrown in, which adds to humidity. There is SO MUCH on the mind, and the additional want to ‘blog & tweet‘ doesn’t help…

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The kitchen is under the hammer, literally, being broken down with hammers and chisels for a much needed face lift. It’s like a scene out of a war zone and fine dust settles like a shroud  everywhere, eerily concealing everything underneath. It was a revelation to hear from Ken that a lot of old places in New York still have concrete kitchens like ours! Made me feel better instantly, though getting any work done in India is a whole new ball game. The workers each have a mind of their own, are mostly uneducated but technically superior at what they do, AND enjoy endless chai breaks!

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In the midst of the rubble and ‘war like’ home zone, stone fruits still tempt me into buying them when I go intending to pick up basic food supplies to tide over these busy days. Just before work began, a week ago, I had bought a box of cherries and some dark red plums optimistically thinking of making this rice pudding I saw at Tartlette! Unrealistic me; must have been dreaming …

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Didn’t get much further than roasting the fruit, and then ran out of time and quickly bundled it off into the fridge. There was a kitchen to be emptied, fridges to be moved etc, and I knew that once cooked, the fruit would keep safe for a bit, and importantly, not torment me. They kept beautifully, and when I saw the Double Cherry Almond Crumble on TasteSpotting, I knew instantly that was where my fruit would go. My love for stone fruit in desserts had found a plan …
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It’s a delicious take on the crumble. I loved the topping which incorporated almonds and added loads to the flavour. I couldn’t locate my almond essence in the mess, but am sure it would have added to the ooomph! The crumble was fabulous and a real treat for the family, given that the boy looks longingly at the incomplete work, ruing the fact that dessert days have gone! He was thrilled to see the little ramekins coming their way! I served them with a teeny dollop of unsweetened cream. Nothing like a stone fruit laden crumble…NOTHING!!
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Stone Fruit Almond Crumble
Adapted minimally from Good Food, Good Wine, and a Bad Girl
Makes 8 individual servings, or 1 large
Filling:
2 cups pitted sweet cherries
4-5 dark red plums {stoned and chopped}
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 vanilla bean
4-5 peaches, stoned and chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
Crumble:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, chilled
1 tbsp milk

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Method:
For the filling:

Prepare the cherries and plums:
Adapted from Tartlette
Preheat the oven to 200C.
With the tip of a knife, slice the half vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into a small dish or ramekin. Add the sugar and mix with your fingertips until the vanilla bean seeds are well distributed.
Place the cherries and plums in a baking dish and sprinkle the vanilla sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until juicy. Let cool.

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For the Crumble:
Preheat oven to 180C.
In a mixing bowl, combine the cherries plum compote, peaches, lime juice, sugar and cornstarch. Stir until sugar and cornstarch are dissolved. Set aside.
In a food processor, combine flour,almonds and sugar and whiz in brief spells until the almonds are ground. Add the butter and process briefly until loose and crumbly. Add milk and stir until the dough just comes together
Pour the fruit mixture into individual ramekins {or an 8×8 baking dish}. Pinch off small pieces of dough, and place on fruit mixture to more-or-less cover the fruit.
Bake the crumble in preheated oven for 20-25minutes {40-45 minutes for 1 large serving}, or until filling is bubbly and topping is crisp and golden.

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To quote the ‘Bad Girl‘ on the her recipe… Depending on your mood, the crumble can be served warm or at room temperature. If you’re in a particularly indulgent mood, serve warm crumble a-la-mode with a scoop of good-quality vanilla ice cream. It was wonderful with a dollop of unsweetened low fat cream too!
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

Don’t miss a post feed Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India deeba

Posted by Deeba @ PAB

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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