A crumble is a baked fruit dish covered with a sweet and crunchy topping with oats and nuts.  It is traditionally served with ice cream or whipped cream.  While it might seem to be an ambitious dessert undertaking, it actually is very simple.  I outline some steps below to make your crumble an easy morning breakfast or a satisfying dessert.

This is a great recipe for your RVing adventures, as you can freeze the topping and take advantage of the local produce. We served this for dessert with our Airstream Chef friends.

Crumble

First, to make this an easy-peasy dish, you will want to make your crumble mix prior to traveling or needing it.  You can freeze this for an entire year and then dollop it out as you like.  Here is the crumble pre-assembled recipe.  Feel free to double and quadruple the recipe and freeze it.

• 1 C flour
• 1 C whole oats
• ½ C butter
• ½ C brown sugar
• ¼ C chopped nuts
• ½ t cinnamon
• ½ t salt

Whir everything (except oats!) in a food processer.  Then add the oats.    No food processor?  Simply work the butter and other ingredients into crumbles with your fingers (as in making pie crust).  Freeze or use immediately. This freezes for a long time.

Fruit

Just about any fruit will do.  We favor berries, cherries, peaches.  The picture for this post is of Ranier cherries and blackberries, sweetened with maple syrup, flavored with vanilla extract, cinnamon, and lemon juice.

Assembly and Baking

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Butter your baking dish.
• Add the fruit you like. How much? Depends upon the size of your baking dish.
• Depending upon your fruit and how sweet you like it, you may want to add more brown sugar/honey/maple syrup.
• Put a couple dabs of butter over the fruit.
• For some fruits there are great additions that bring it over the top:
  • For cherries add some almond extract. For berries, apples and peaches add some vanilla extract
  • For all add a bit of cinnamon and lemon juice
• Spoon the crumble over the top of the fruit to your desired level. I like to just cover the fruit so that it cannot be seen anymore.
• Bake for 30-40 (or more) minutes or until the crumble is browned and the fruit is bubbling.
• You will need to let it set until it is edible temp.
• Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Stay briny,

–Stacey