101 Crumbles
Crumbles 101
The best sort of crumble has tender fruit and a tender crumble crust that’s not too buttery and definitely not oily, but not dry or powdery nor set hard like a cake, but with just the right toothsome soft crunch. The fruit is best with a slight tang or bite to it, to contrast with the sweeter crumble topping. The cooked crumble should be appetisingly golden on top with juices bubbling up around the edge of it, indicating the fruit is cooked. Get all that right, and you will hit crumble Nirvana. Well, this is how I like them! Here are a few tips to help achieve a memorable crumble.
Crumble
Don’t cut back on the amount of fat in the crumble; it needs to be there to stop the crumble turning hard.
Sugar helps the crumble brown, gives it flavour and helps give the top of the crumble a little crunch.
Instead of rubbing flour and butter together by hand or with a pastry blender, the butter can be chopped through the flour in a food processor – just don’t overdo it! This is a fast way to do this step if you are making crumble in bulk.
The fruit will collapse as it cooks and softens, so mound it high in the dish, otherwise the finished crumble will look sunken. Resist the temptation to pat down the crumble too much because that compacts it. It stays lighter with a bit of air in it.
Make sure all the fruit is covered with crumble so that you lock in steam from the moisture in the fruit. The steam helps soften the fruit ensuring it will be tender by the time the crumble is cooked through and brown.
Fruit
If fruit has a firm texture, like apple, slice thinly to ensure it cooks through in time. If the fruit is softer and pulpy, like feijoa, just scoop out and add. If the fruit is sharp, add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar.
Sugars
You can use caster sugar (superfine granulated sugar), brown sugar and coconut sugar in the crumble and to sweeten tart fruit.
Nuts
Roughly chopped Brazil nuts, almonds, toasted almonds (skins on), toasted hazelnuts, walnuts can all be added to the crumble.
Spices
A sprinkle of spice can be added to either the crumble or the fruit, but a little is better than too much. Cinnamon is a sweet spice that can make crumbles taste sweeter, so add just a pinch. Ground cloves are a better option than whole cloves.
Citrus
A grate or three of lemon, orange or lime zest can give a crumble a fresh scent. Add to the crumble or the fruit. A squirt of lemon adds a fresh tang to fruit.
Extras
Coconut flakes, whole oats or rolled oats can be added to the crumble. Make sure the crumble is not dry (if adding ¼ cup of oats, use ¼ cup less of flour).
Cooking the crumble
Enamel tin plates help cook fruit more quickly because they are good conductors of heat. This is handy when using older apple varieties such as Ballarat and Gravenstein, which have strongly textured flesh.
If you cook the crumble in a glass dish you can see whether the fruit is cooked by looking through the sides of the dish.
Cook the crumble in the middle of a preheated oven on a baking tray (sheet) to catch spillages.
If the crumbles are nicely browned but the fruit is not yet tender, drape a piece of tin foil over the top to stop the crumble/nuts burning.
Finishing off
Naughty, but dig a hole in the centre of the crumble and pour in a good swig of runny double cream, or better still, a decent-sized blob of vanilla ice cream.
Just to reiterate
Why do you press the air out of the fruit but keep it in the crumble?
The fruit collapses and shrinks down in the dish during cooking, so pack the dishes nice and full of fruit, then mound the crumble on top, but don’t pack down the crumble as the aim is to keep it light, not compacted.
STANDARD CRUMBLE
150g (5 oz) standard flour
120g (4 oz) butter
3 Tbsp soft brown sugar (or caster sugar / superfine granulated)
Spices, nuts, lemon zest, etc
Sift the flour into a bowl and add the butter. Rub butter in with your fingertips, or use a pastry blender, until well amalgamated. Mix in sugar. To rark it up a notch, add a pinch of spice, chopped nuts, coconut flakes, and/or lemon zest.
Including oats in the crumble is great, as it ups the nutrition of the crumble, but you need to knock back the flour or the crumble will be too dry.
Tamarillos
Choose ripe, but not squishy tamarillos for a tamarillo crumble. Firm ones are hard to peel and don’t ooze the lovely crimson juice as they cook which makes them look so appealing.
Blueberries
As blueberries cook they produce the most glorious deep-coloured juice. Don’t forget to add a little lemon juice – it always gives them a lift.
Apples
Autumn is the best time for apple crumble, made with crisp firm-textured fruit. Slice apple thinly to ensure it cooks through by the time the crumble has cooked and browned. Ballarat apples turn to soft intensely flavoured fluff when cooked in a crumble. Granny Smith can go either way – if there is not enough moisture in the fruit base, then it can take ages to soften. Ensure the crumble top covers the fruit completely to keep in the steam.
Dried Apricots
Dried apricots add a delicious perfume and tang, and increase the nutrients of the crumble, so you can feel good about having seconds. Choose tangy apricots. Soak them in hot, just-boiled water for about 1 hour, drain and chop.
Pears
Pears often throw off liquid during cooking. If there is a lot, pour it off, but if serving the crumbles at room temperature or the following day, it will be absorbed and will help keep everything moist
Peaches
Golden Queen, or firm yellow peaches are excellent in crumble, as are old-fashioned fragrant peaches. Wash and dry, rubbing off fuzz, then slice. Blood peaches are also a good edition to a crumble.
Raspberries, Blackberries
Berries are great in crumble, especially when they ooze juice, and provide a sharp berry tang and great colour. Use frozen raspberries if fresh are not available.
Savoury Crumbles
These are not a true crumble as we know it, more just a handful of ingredients crumbled together. They often have a nut base, with herbs, garlic, citrus zest, oil, perhaps parmesan. Polenta, chestnuts, and sourdough crumbs are other ideas for savour crumbles.
