Autumn Fruit Crumble
Quince and ginger lend a wonderful fragrance to this crumble. You can vary the fruits according to the season - plums and blackberries are a good combination. Serve with crème anglaise or cream.
Ingredients
Filling
- 500 ml Syrup for Sorbet (Sirop à Sorbet)
- 340 grams cranberries
- 4 quince
- 1 Bramley (or other cooking apple)
- 4 Cox (or Gala apples)
- 1 lemon juice
- 180 grams caster sugar
- 80 grams preserved stem ginger in syrup
Crumble
- 50 grams butter, cut into pieces, slightly softened
- 60 grams brown sugar
- 85 grams flour
- 15 grams ground almond
- 15 grams flaked almonds
Overview
A generous and warming autumnal crumble featuring tart cranberry, fragrant quince, and sweet apples, crowned with a buttery almond crumble topping studded with toasted flaked almonds. This deeply flavored dessert showcases the subtle flavors of fall fruits balanced with sweet spices and served warm for maximum comfort.
Method
To prepare the filling
- Bring the sirop a sorbet to the boil in a pan.
- Drop in the cranberries, remove from the heat and set aside to soak for 2 hours, or until cold.
- Drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Prick each quince in 3 or 4 places with a fork, wrap them all in a piece of foil and place on a baking tray.
- Bake for 1 - 1 ¼ hours until tender, turning 3 or 4 times during cooking.
- To test, insert a skewer into the flesh; it should go in easily. Unwrap all the quince and set aside to cool.
- Meanwhile, peel, quarter and core all the apples, then cut the flesh into 2 cm dice.
- Put into a saucepan with the lemon juice and caster sugar and cook over a high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Remove from the heat and set aside. Using a small knife, peel, halve and core the quince, then cut the flesh into 2 cm dice.
To make the crumble
- Put the butter, brown sugar and flour and ground almond into a bowl.
- Using your fingertips, rub together until the mixture reaches a grainy, almost sandy, but still slightly uneven consistency; do not overwork.
To assemble the crumble
- Gently mix the cranberries, quince and apples together in a pie dish (about 22 x 30 cm).
- Scatter the ginger over the top, then press lightly into the fruit with your fingertips.
- Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the surface without packing it down.
- Before the last few layers of crumble are added to the top, mix the flaked almonds to the crumble and scatter over the top.
- Bake at 190°C for 40 minutes.
- Leave to stand for 5 - 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- The soaking of cranberries in the syrup plumps them and softens their tartness; this is essential as raw cranberries would be unpleasantly sharp and hard
- Quince requires long, slow baking to become tender; trust the timing and test with a skewer for doneness rather than appearance
- The crumble topping should be slightly uneven and crumbly rather than smooth and packed; these variations create appealing texture and crispness
- Brown sugar in the crumble adds depth of flavor that white sugar cannot match; it also helps create slight chewiness in the topping
Serving
Serve the crumble warm directly from the baking dish into individual bowls, allowing 5-10 minutes resting time for juices to set slightly. Top each serving with crème anglaise or thick cream. The warmth allows the toppings to pool and intermingle beautifully.
Storage
The assembled crumble can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead and kept at room temperature, then baked when ready to serve. Baked crumble keeps at room temperature for 1 day; reheat gently in a 160°C oven for 10-15 minutes. Do not refrigerate, as the pastry topping becomes dense and hard. The individual components (cooked fruit, crumble topping) can be prepared the day before and assembled when ready to bake.
More like this
Banoffee Pie
The toffee layer is the only stage that takes time: an unopened tin of sweetened condensed milk simmered in water for 3 hours turns into deep amber dulce de leche. The biscuit base is digestives crushed and bound with melted butter, pressed into a tart tin and chilled. The toffee goes on cold, the bananas are sliced just before serving (so they don't brown), the cream is whipped to soft peaks. Assembled in order. Dusted with cocoa or grated dark chocolate. Cut with a knife dipped in hot water for clean slices.
British Apple Pie
Buttery shortcrust rests then rolls; one disc lines a pie dish, fills with sliced spiced apples, the second disc tops it. Egg-washed, sugared, vented, baked golden. The juices thicken with cornflour as they cook so the bottom doesn't go soggy.
Pecan Nut Pastry Plait
A puff-pastry plait built around a thick pecan filling - chopped pecans bound with brown sugar, melted butter, golden syrup, egg yolk and a splash of bourbon. The pastry is rolled into a long rectangle, the filling spread down the centre third, the sides cut into diagonal strips and folded over alternately to form the plaited top. Egg-washed, baked until deep golden, glazed with warm sieved apricot jam to set the colour, drizzled with a thin water icing across the centre.
Rocky Road Tiffin
A hybrid: the no-bake biscuit base from a classic Scottish tiffin meets the marshmallow-and-nut load of an American rocky road. The base is digestives crushed mostly fine with some chunkier pieces, melted into butter-cocoa-syrup, mixed with mini marshmallows, glace cherries (optional), chopped pecans or hazelnuts, and chunks of fudge or honeycomb. Pressed into a tin, capped with milk chocolate, criss-crossed with white-chocolate drizzle. The chocolate top sets fast in the fridge; the marshmallows give the bake its characteristic uneven, rocky-looking surface where they push up against the chocolate.