FRUIT CRUMBLE

My parents decided to throw an impromptu bbq yesterday (Sunday) and as it was my day off from work I wanted to cook/bake something. As they had all the salads and meat covered, I offered to supply desert. I was inspired to bake a crumble from who other than Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook. I changed the ingredients, making mine larger (my family eats a LOT), gluten-free, less liberal with the butter and sweeter with the use of spices. You could play around with the fruit and use any combination that you like, such as nectarines, apricots, strawberries etc. Believe it or not, the mixture of fruit I used in my pie was all lying around my kitchen, extremely ripe and about to go off. 

INGREDIENTS

• 700g assorted fruit (I used 2 sliced peaches, 1 sliced pear, 2 small sliced apples and 100g mixed berries including blueberries, blackberries, raspberries). 
• 4 tablespoons almond meal
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 100g gluten-free rolled oats
• a dash of vanilla essence
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 2 tablespoons silvered almonds
• 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature, plus extra to lightly grease

COOKING 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius fan-forced. Prepare a pie dish by lightly greasing it with butter. 

2. Mix the fruit with 2 tablespoons of almond meal in the pie dish. Place all the other ingredients in a medium bowl, using your hands to form small morsels. Scatter this sweet topping over the fruit, distributing it evenly. 

3. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the topping is lightly browned and you are able to see the fruit juices bubbling. Serve warm with ice cream, if you desire. 

x E