Pear and Persimmon Crumble

 

As a child, apple crumble was my favorite dessert.  Especially when you climbed the tree yourself and picked the apples and then crumble on your plate piping hot and next to with a real vanilla ice cream. (Not the yellow kind. The white one with the little black flecks of vanilla in it… mmm).  Our London home had an apple tree in the garden and there were huge orchards at both sets of grandparents’ homes so crumbles were a staple on the menu wherever we were.  Through apple season my darling granny could usually be found with a box of apples beside her, peeling, coring, chopping away into a colander, and I was never too far away stealing little apple slices (despite her warnings that they were tart ‘cookers’).

Along with chocolate cake, crumble was one of the first things I learned to make.  We had a regular Sunday routine of rolling (starving) home from church to a chicken roasting in the oven, then Mummy making gravy and cooking veggies, and me rubbing butter into flour for crumble.  Well with an overabundance of persimmons and pears on my counter top from the veg box, and a family dinner planned this weekend, I thought crumble would be the perfect way to use them up. So here’s what I threw together!

For the fruit layer:

5 Fuyu Persimmons, sliced

5 ripe pears, sliced

3 tbsp almond meal

1 shot of ameretto (optional but recommended!)

1.5 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 cup maple syrup

Mix together all of the above and spread into a 10″ skillet or equivalent pan.

For the crumble topping: 

1.5 cups almond meal

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

10 big juicy (or soaked) dates

Pinch good salt

3 tbsp coconut oil

2 cups oats (gluten free if you need)

Pulse everything but the oats together until combined then add in half the oats continuing to pulse until they are evenly distributed through but not completely ground down.  Then add in the second half and just pulse a few times. You want some almost whole oats left in there.  Then get your hands in and spread it over the fruit layer.  You can refrigerate it at this point if you want to cook it later in the day or cook it right away.  Either way, reheat the oven to 350F and bake for 35-40 minutes or until bubbling and browning on top.

Note: You could use apples instead or pears and persimmons.  Sub out the pumpkin pie spice for ground ginger for a fun twist.  For the paleo version, lost eh oats and add in an extra cup of nut meal and a cup of slices almonds at the end!

We ate ours with homemake maple cinnamon ice cream, I’ll get the that recipe shortly! (In short though, if you know the method… one can coconut cream, half cup almond milk, 4 egg yolks, one good tsp cinnamon, half cup maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla)

Happy crumble eating!

 

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