BAKED SPICE PEAR AND PLUM HAZELNUT CRUMBLE
Serves 4 comfortably
When I hear crumble, I always think about the Paloma Faith song “Only love can hurt like this” “When you’re not there I just crumble”. Crumble always reminds me of the end of Summer, here we go again Autumn is coming and for some people their hearts are crumbling when they can’t wear shorts, flip flops, and the sun moves down south. Spice your autumn and warm your heart with this nutty crumble and baked spice fruit, it just hits the spot for early autumn. For the lovely crumble I prefer to bake it separately and not with the fruit.
Ingredients
For the crumble :
60g whole hazelnut skin on
85g plain flour
40g dark brown sugar
40g demerara sugar
80g butter
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla extract
For the spice fruit:
4 pears, peeled, discard the core and dice into 2cm cube
6 plums, stoned and cuts into 4
3tbs of blackberry
2tbs caster sugar
20g unsalted butter, diced
1 clove
¼ star anise
1 vanilla pod
5cm cinnamon stick
2tbs brandy
2 long pepper (optional)
1 mace
Pre heat the oven at 180°C (same temperature for crumble and baked fruit),
To Make the spiced fruit, in a baking tray with tin foil and baking parchment on top place the diced pears, plums and blackberry. Sprinkle and rub gently with sugar and brandy, add all the spices and the diced butter. Wrap using tin foil like a parcel, set a side.
To make the crumble, using a food processor roughly grind the hazelnuts and set aside, with the same food processor blitz the flour, ground cinnamon and butter until mixed like grains of sand, add dark brown sugar, Demerara sugar, vanilla extract and diced hazelnut, and blitz again until mixs together and crumbly
In the baking tray with baking parchment scatter the mixture roughly.
At the same time bake the parcel of fruit and crumble mixture. After about 15- 20 minutes take the the crumble from the oven let it cool down for 15-20 minutes. Keep the parcel in the oven another 15 -20 minutes. If it sticks together, with a fork break the crumble into small pieces. Take the parcel from the oven discard all the spices divide into 4 small bowls or jars, put the crumble on top serve with whipped double cream and extra liquid from the spiced fruit.
