Spring Seasonal Crumble

The weather is warming up a little, and I’m looking forward to all the beautiful seasonal fruit that will be available soon. This crumble can be made with any fruit you have - right now strawberries are fairly inexpensive but it would be perfect when peaches and nectarines are available. The crumble topping is nutty, crispy, and buttery all at the same time. It’s the perfect dessert with cream or custard for when the nights are still cool, but it also works for breakfast with some coconut yogurt. 

Why these ingredients will help you feel better: 

Fruit contains antioxidants, fibre, and vitamin C, making it a good food for your gut, your brain, and your immune system. 

Oats contain fibre, iron, and low-GI carbs so they’re an ideal food for sustained energy and nourishing your gut. 

All nuts are good sources of fibre, minerals, vitamin E, antioxidants, protein, and healthy fats. 

Sesame seeds are a good source of calcium, manganese, and vitamin E.

Chia seeds are an excellent source of iron, fibre, zinc, magnesium, and omega-3 fatty acids. A true superfood!

Seasonal Crumble

Makes: 6 generous servings

Time: 20 minutes prep + 30 minutes baking time

Crumble Topping Ingredients: 

• 100g plain flour or almond meal

• 50g butter

• 30g raw sugar

• 25g rolled oats

• 25g hazelnuts, finely chopped

• 10g sesame seeds

Fruit Base Ingredients: 

• 500g fruit of your choice, chopped - I used 250g strawberries and 2 pears. If using apples, I recommend peeling them. 

• 1 tbsp chia seeds

• 2 tbs water

To serve: 

Coconut yogurt, ice cream, custard, or cream

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 180°C. 

If you’re using a firmer fruit like apples or some types of pears, cook them a little first. Place the chopped fruit in a saucepan, add 2-3 tbsp of water, then simmer for 5-10 minutes or until softened. Then proceed as below - but use the cooking water rather than adding more. 

Grab a 20-25cm pie dish and add your chopped fruit, water, and chia seeds, and mix together. Set aside while you make your crumble mix - this gives the chia seeds time to start absorbing the water which makes the fruit nice and jammy. 

Next, make your crumble mix. Add all the ingredients except the butter to a large bowl, and mix together. Chop the butter into small pieces and add to the bowl. Then, use your hands to rub the butter into the mix until the butter is mostly broken up and there are a few larger chunks. 

Alternatively, you could briefly pulse the mixture in a food processor, but take care not to overdo it so there are still some larger pieces of butter. I would leave the oats out and add them after processing if you choose that method. 

Top the fruit mix evenly with the crumble mixture, then bake for 20 minutes. Then switch your oven to a low grill and toast the top for 10 minutes - but keep your eye on it and take it out once it’s browned. Leave it to cool slightly then serve with cream, ice cream, custard, or yogurt, or have it all by itself. 

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.  

Variations

Fruit: Many fruits will work here but the best are apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, and berries. You can use frozen fruit, just defrost the fruit first, and omit the water as frozen fruit usually releases a lot of juice when you defrost it. 

If you use a harder fruit like apples, you may like to cook the fruit first - there are instructions above. Softer fruits like berries and peaches will get enough cooking in the oven.

Nuts: Use any nuts you like in place of the hazelnuts. You can also leave the nuts out. 

Sugar: You can use any sugar except brown sugar, because brown sugar won’t crisp up. So coconut sugar, raw sugar, and white sugar are all fine. 

You can also make a large batch of the crumble mixture and freeze it. 

Nutrition

One serve of the crumble contains 2mg iron, 27mg vitamin C, 5g fibre, 4g protein, and 53mg of calcium.