We love fruit Crumbles, they are super easy to make, healthy (as long as you don't add too much sugar) and great at reducing food waste: using fruits that are either slightly overripe, floury or bruised or too just sour to eat.
Most fruits can be used, the key is to balance the sweetness and acidity by pairing fruits like in the classic apple and rhubarb crumble.
Favourite combos:
-Gooseberry, pear and apple (pictured)
-Blackberry, apples and banana.
-Mango and blueberry.
August is the ideal time to forage in the UK, from blackberries to wild plums or wild cherries. These fruits, often quite sour, are a perfect addition to sweeter fruits.
You might also check your freezer for this forgotten bag of mix berries or frozen rhubarb.
Waste Not Fruits Crumble Recipe
200g "sour fruits" (gooseberry, topped and tailed or blackberry, plums...)
300g of "sweet fruits" (apples, pear, banana ... peeled and cut in small chunks.
85g brown sugar.
If you don't have enough fruits you can either keep the fruits in the freezer until you have enough or make a smaller portion (We love making cute one person versions!)
Crumble mix:
175g Plain flour
75g Brown sugar
85g Salted dairy free butter, chilled .You can also use coconut oil
30g Rolled oats
We love to add biscuits crumbs or bits of nuts for extra crunch.
You can freeze this mix in a jar if you made too much to use later.
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
Toss the fruits with the caster sugar, spread in the bottom of a medium ovenproof baking dish.
It can be helpful to stew the fruit before you make crumble. You don’t have to, but it will ensure the fruit isn’t hard in the crumble, or the mix is not too sour and also reduce the cooking time considerably.
To make the crumble, put the flour, oats, sugar and butter in a bowl. Rub together with your fingertips until you have a rough breadcrumb texture.
Scatter the crumble topping evenly over the gooseberries. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until top is pale golden and crunchy and the fruits are bubbling.
Once again I failed to picture the freshly backed crumble before it got eaten, proof of its success!
Now we'd love to hear from you! Do you have a favourite crumble recipe? or a good way to use left over fruits? What fruits are sitting in your fridge/freezer right now, and how are you planning to use them up? Please share in the comments below!