Plum Crumble

Plum Crumble

I love fruit crumbles.  I really, really love crumbles.  If I could, I would have one every day. For me, they are not just something to eat for dessert.  I can eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner or any time in between.  Warm or cold I am happy when I'm eating a crumble.  I'm rarely fussy when it comes to the filling of a crumble either; apple, plum, rhubarb, berries of various descriptions, on their own or in combination, it's all good.  

Out of preference I tend to have a tarter crumble.  I hardly ever add sugar to the fruit, the exception being rhubarb and maybe cooking apples depending on their sourness.  But this is all down to preference - if you prefer a sweeter crumble then add sugar.  Adding anything else to a fruit crumble seems a bit unnecessary, but, and although I'm not a fan of cinnamon, I do add a dash to a plum crumble.  Plum and cinnamon go spectacularly well together and it makes the crumble sing.

 Making your own crumble topping is ridiculously easy too.  All you need is flour, sugar and butter; all ingredients that I bet most people have in their cupboards and fridge.  And making it takes as much faff as opening a packet of (expensive) shop brought crumble topping.  

I haven't put how much fruit you will need - just work out roughly how many servings you want and find a dish that's suitable size and fill it full of fruit.  The plum crumble I made below, will probably serve 2-3 people and I used 6 plums.  If I were making an apple crumble I would probably use 1-2 apples per person depending on the apple's size.  

And as a final note, a crumble is a great way to use up a lot of fruit, or fruit that is going a bit ropey.  

INGREDIENTS:

Plums (roughly 3 per person), stoned and sliced.  

A scant 1/4 teaspoon per 6 plums of Ground Cinnamon (or more if you particularly like cinnamon)

A sprinkling of golden caster sugar (to taste)

For the Crumble Topping (enough to cover the amount of fruit above, but can easily be doubled up):

115g Plain Flour

55g Butter, cubed

40g Golden Caster Sugar

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C / 180C fan / Gas Mark 6
2. Halve, stone and then slice the plums and place them in a suitable dish.
3. Sprinkle over the cinnamon (and if using, the sugar)
4. In a bowl add all the crumble topping ingredients, and using your fingertips rub the butter with the flour and sugar until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Make sure there are no big lumps of butter lurking at the bottom.  
5. Place the crumble topping over the plums and put it in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, or until the topping is a lovely golden colour.