Crumbling fast

If you're prepared, that is.

A crumble is the most comforting of puddings: a pretense can be made that it's just fruit.

It's always the season for crumble, as far as I'm concerned, even today when in Sydney it's a warm clear spring/summer like day of 25ºC (until the cool front arrives this afternoon and takes us - some of us hope - back to winter).

There are an enormous range of crumble formulas (formulae) in circulation. It can even be made in an emergency or when pressed for time by crumbling/crushing plain biscuits: Duchy shortbread/ginger/butterscotch are great, if expensive, lubricated with melted butter, like a biscuit crumb crust and a bit of extra sugar for crunch.

My standard crumble mixture is equal quantities by weight of butter, caster sugar, unblanched almonds and plain flour, ground until coarse in a food processor. It can be done by hand if you can chop the almonds coarsely or have flaked almonds.

In Australia it's usually easiest to do this based on a 250g package of butter (unsalted or lightly salted). Leftovers can live happily in the freezer and can be sprinkled ready frozen.

A pinch of salt helps if you're not salophobic, luxury can be achieved with the scraped seeds of a vanilla pod (or a dash of Queen* if you have a more traditional, vanilla bean less, Australian kitchen). Or, in a well run kitchen, using vanilla sugar (or darker sugars: muscavado, dark/light brown, raw, turbinado can all be used)

I sometimes use rolled oats - which can be lightly toasted in a non stick frying pan - and use a proportion of self raising flour (maybe half) for a bit of fluffiness. BUT NEVER COCONUT.

Fresh or pre-cooked fruit as a base? It depends on how much time you have and what you've got. I prefer cooked fruit; fresh fruit always takes a bit longer than you think to cook thoroughly: the point of a crumble is the contrast between the soft fruit and the crunchy crumbly top. There is no place for undercooked apple.

The fruit of the crumble is ....? Apple or apple and something or in a pinch pear (apple and pear is good). Apple and rhubarb, apple and quince, apple and feijoa (a sublime combination), apple and guava. Apricot and peach have their place. Pineapple and banana don't (I confess now to having made tuti-fruti crumbles in a microwave including banana and the forbidden coconut: I now know better).

Crumbles containing molten de-frozen blackberries are surely prohibited by international agreement, and are best left to a doubtful existence in country motel dining rooms (but if only they were); on the other hand, the combination of rhubarb and strawberry works well (strawberries can be baked, truly).

Spice is nice with the fruit but not too much clove or cinnamon, and probably not "mixed" spice unless you are stranded on a hillside two hour's from the nearest Colesworth's**, traditonal though it may be.

The fruit should be well sugared and some lemon juice used to bring out the flavour. If uncooked fruit is to be used it should be tossed with a teaspoon or so of cornflour to absorb the juices.

The crumble should be generously spread and fairly well cooked: it's not something to do in a hurry (crumbled Duchy version notwithstanding) - 30 to 45 minutes in a moderate-ish oven (170ºC - 180ºC), maybe a bit longer at a lower temperature if the fruit is uncooked (eg 40 to 60 minutes at 150ºC - 170ºC). There should be a good bit of caramelised bubbling going on by the time it's ready.

Like so many things, possibly tastes even better the next day - especially for breakfast.

Baked in a large communal dish not individual egg cups, best on a baking sheet lined with foil in hope of enthusiastic dribbling.

Eat at a bit above warm room temperature (not isolated Australian hillside in July temperature) but not mouth burningly hot (those microwaving country roadside motels again).

And to eat with? Anything you like: Golden Cow brand frozen dairy like product, milk company readymade custard, evaporated skim milk, organic sheep's milk yoghurt except perhaps whipped or clotted cream. My favourite is ordinary runny cream, even if all you can find is the Australian gelatinized version, although it once was creme anglaise/custard. Even tinned cream (another great Australian tradition) will work, although maybe then the the apples should also be tinned for complimentary flavour.

If it all sounds too much work, empty an individual package of two fruits into a tea cup (not one of your Granny's), top with muesli and microwave on high for three minutes, eat with no fat vanilla inspired yoghurt.

Unless Colesworth's is having a special on no fat apple crumble flavour yoghurt this week ...


*Queen (trademarked, I'm sure) is the traditional brand of vanilla essence/extract in Australian kitchens. It gives the right taste ie the one we're used to, even if it may not be the foodistically most correct substance. Also the label looks "right" - little enough does since Mother's Choice flour boxes disappeared. Anchor flour from Western Australia is not without it's charms but it's foreign, even if still in boxes.

** They're so hard to distinguish, why try?