Whenever I have over ripe fruit hanging around it usually turns into a delicious crumble, most definitely an echo of my childhood surrounded by fruit.
This week, it was the turn of ‘seen better days’ nectarines and goodness, it was a heavenly dessert, served with a spoon of thick greek yogurt or nut yogurt! It is so quick and easy that the deliciousness far exceeds the cooking involved.
Portions: 3/4
Prep and Cook Time: Under 1 hour
Cookware: Saucepan (for blanching nectarines) and an ovenproof dish
Oven: 180C / Gas 4/5
- 4 ripe nectarines / peaches
- splash of sweet wine or marsala (optional)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp runny honey (only if fruit is sharp)
- 80g oats (preferably not jumbo)
- 40g spelt flour / flour of choice (or a mix of ground almonds and flour)
- 60g golden brown / muscavado sugar (or any available) taste for desired sweetness
- 80g butter – cubed
Method
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and using a slotted spoon, carefully add fruit to the pan for 2 minutes. This helps to remove their skins. Remove fruit with the slotted spoon, place in a dish to cool slightly, then remove skins with a small sharp knife or peeler.
Slice the nectarines into bite size pieces (don’t worry how they look) and place in the oven dish. Sprinkle on cinnamon, splash of wine and the honey, mix well. Put aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, flour and sugar then using fingers, or 2 spoons, rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Do not over work as you want it crumbly.
Top the fruit with the crumble mix without patting down too much, so it remains crumbly, then pop into the oven for 20 minutes or until the crumble is golden and slightly crispy around the edges.
Serve
Once cooked, leave to cool a little before spooning into bowls and top with a spoon of greek yogurt, vanilla ice cream or enjoy just as it is! If any leftovers, cover and keep in the fridge for the next day.
Enjoy!
If you have some ground almond to use up, add some to the crumble mix but reduce the amount of flour.
