Whole Wheat Summer Fruit Crumble
Well, well, I'm really going all out with the summer fruits this month. Strawberry cake two weeks ago, lemon meringue cupcakes last week, and today, a summer fruit crumble. Not that lemons are actually a summer fruit, but they sure look and feel like a summer fruit, what with their cheery, yellow color and bright, citrusy flavor and all.
But anyway. Today's recipe features three more summer fruits: peaches and apricots and nectarines. Topped with an 100% whole wheat crumble. And don't you worry about these crumbles tasting healthy and earthy and whole-wheaty. They don't. I honestly doubt anybody would be able to tell that you used whole wheat flour instead of white flour for these.
I also put pecans in my crumble. Because I love pecans. And because extra nutty flavor and crunch never hurt anybody. But you can always use a different type of nut or skip them altogether. That works too.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go in order. First, the fruit mixture.
You can use just peaches, or just nectarines, or just apricots. Or a combination of two of them. Or a mixture of all three. Which is what I used. You'll just slice up your fruits into thin wedges (although I don't see why cubes wouldn't work as well) and mix the slices with some sugar for sweetening, cornstarch for thickening, and lemon juice and vanilla extract for flavoring.
And your fruit mixture is done. Just strain it before you use it. Otherwise, you'll be left with a VERY juicy mess on the bottom of your crumble.
NOW we can talk about my favorite part, the crumble. If I had it my way, I would make all my fruit crumbles without any fruit. But since that doesn't make any sense, and therefore I can't have it my way, I make my crumbles with fruit. And just only eat the crumble part. And leave the fruit in the baking pan/ramekin/on my plate. Because I'm three years old.
But since I'm assuming the rest of you aren't three years old, you'll probably be eating these summer fruit crumbles with the fruit. But we were talking about the crumble, not the fruit.
It's back to basics for this crumble recipe: some whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, melted butter or oil, and those optional chopped nuts.
You'll be surprised how beautiful basic can be. And by beautiful I mean delicious. There's a reason some things are a classic. Case in point: these whole wheat summer fruit crumbles.
Of course, if you want to take things to the next level, serve your crumble warm, with some vanilla ice cream. Tart, juicy, sweet fruits + crunchy, crumbly, nutty crumble + cold, creamy, vanilla ice cream = errrrmagad yes.
Also, since individual portions are always cuter, I divided my crumble into ramekins. Eight of them. That's how many this recipe will yield. You could always just bake your crumble in one big pan or in a deep pie dish or something like that and then just spoon out portions when serving.
But if you've got the ramekins, I say use them. Especially if you're having a dinner party and want individually plated desserts.
So, in conclusion. these whole wheat summer fruit crumbles - I'm feelin' them.
whole wheat summer fruit crumble
Yield: 8 ramekins/1 large crumble
Fruit Mixture:
6-8 peaches, nectarines, and/or apricots (4 cups sliced)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Crumble:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup oil or melted butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8 ramekins or one large baking dish.
Slice fruit into thin wedges and add to a large bowl. Mix with the rest of the fruit mixture ingredients until fruit is evenly coated. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together the whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix in vanilla extract and oil/melted butter. Stir in chopped nuts if using.
Strain liquid out of fruit mixture. Spoon fruits evenly into ramekins or pour into one large pan. Sprinkle crumble on top of fruit. Bake for 25-35 minutes (ramekins are closer to 25 minutes), or until fruit juices are bubbling and crumble is browned.
Serve warm or room temperature with ice cream if desired.
