Sunday, August 02, 2009

Cherry & Peach Crumble

Dear foodies,

The summer heat hasn't come to see us this year, but the fruits haven't been as mean to us. Strawberries, blueberries, pineapples, mango, cherries, peaches & nectarines have made their way into my kitchen. Eaten as is or cooked up in jams, compotes, cakes and muffins, I tried to enjoy the bounty as much as I could. Sometime I ended up being greedy and bought more than I could eat. A few sadly made they way into the bin, but the rest became gifts to friends :)

Cherries troubled me the most by going bad really fast, theres only so many I could eat in 2 days! So this time I made a quick and incredibly good dessert called crumble. The first time I made this dessert was from Sug's blog, last year. I've made numerous variations since and have loved all of them. I called it a crisp, but its also very similar to a crumble, an English dessert made with apples or any stone fruit. The original has a butter laden topping made with all purpose flour and sugar. I changed things up based on the crisp I've been making and turned it into a much more tasty and healthier dish.

make-shift cherry pitter - oil bottle lid
Pitting cherries can be a task you would wish you could avoid. There are some fancy gadgets that you could buy to help you out, but you could find similar stuff right in your kitchen. I used the lid of an oil bottle, you could also use a sturdy straw with a wide enough opening I guess. The hole was the perfect size and it was fun pitting cherries this way :D
Cherry & Peach Crumble
Ingredients: fills a 6-inch square dish
  • 3/4th cup - Sweet Cherries, pitted & halved
  • 3/4th cup - Peaches, cut in chunks
  • 1/2 tsp - Cornstarch (or all purpose flour)
  • 1/2 Tbsp - Sugar
  • 1 Tsp - Lemon juice
crumb topping
  • 1/4th cup - Pistachios
  • 1/3rd cup - Rolled oats
  • 1 Tbsp - Whole wheat flour
  • 11/2 Tbsp - light, Brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp - Olive oil
  • a pinch of salt (skip this if the nuts are salted)
Method:
  1. Combine the first 5 ingredients and allow to sit for 20-30mins. Pre-heat the oven to 375F.
  2. For the topping, coarsely powder the pistachio's and oats. Combine it with the whole wheat flour, sugar and olive oil to get a crumbly mixture.
  3. Transfer the fruits along with the juices to the baking dish, top it uniformly with the crumble topping and bake for 20-25mins or until the juices start to bubble and the topping gets a brown shade.
  4. Cool a bit and serve warm with a scoop of your favorite ice cream flavor or on it own :)
Note: Almost everything in this recipe is interchangeable. You can use any stone fruit, and switch pistachios with your choice of nuts. Jaggery or white sugar could be used as a sweetener. Add some vanilla essence or lemon/orange zest to the topping for another variation or some cardamom powder perhaps ?
This is a fabulous way to enjoy seasonal fruit when you get tired of eating them on their own. Not much work involved but the results are great. I sent this bowl to my neighbor and she called back as soon as she tasted it saying she wanted the recipe immediately. All the ingredients used in the topping are good for you, so anyone watching their diet can feel good about this one dessert atleast, don't count the ice-cream on the side though ;-)

I also made small cherry cakes following Deb's recipe for raspberry buttermilk cake. It turned out fab and the neighbor who got one of the cakes had compliments waiting for me when I met her next :) I skipped the eggs in the recipe and used flax seed powder instead.

The Cherry crumble if off to Vaishali who is celebrating British cuisine in It's a Vegan World July. She was kind to accept my last minute entry :) Simran is hosting AWED this month and has chosen British cuisine, so here's some for her too :) AWED also travels around the world each month and was initiated by DK. Thank you lovely ladies. Have a great week ahead all.

34 thoughts:

amna said...

the cherry pitter is so cute!! lovely pic, the last one :)

Sonia said...

cutie...that Cherry pitter gadget. :) Beautiful pics Priya.

chef and her kitchen said...

OMG that cherry pitter is so nice..Glad to know that something like that really exists..theat cherry crumble is mouthwatering,,

Pavani said...

Great summery desserts going on there Priya. Love the easy crumble & also the mini cakes.

Nandini Vishwanath said...

The pictures brought me here. I haven't gone to my other account and seen this yet!

And the cherry pitter- so innovative man! :)

Lovely cake too. I bookmarked Deb's recipe too!

Priya Suresh said...

Woww cherry pitter looks great...Crumble looks droolworthy and delicious combo Priya!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

looks absolutely lovely. i love fruity crumbles and clafoutis in the summer. and yes the pitter is cute ;-)

Faiza Ali said...

oh wooow !the cherry pitter is so nice and cute dear...and the crumble looks yum.

Anonymous said...

looks lovely, but that pitter takes the cake for innovation :)

Soma said...

What a cute pitter Priya! Come here & I will share some summer with U.. tho prefer going north to share of your summer;-)

I love fruit desserts. That last picture is beautiful.. i wish i was your neighbor.

Rachel said...

a very handy tool, the pitter..gorgeous desserts!

veggie belly said...

I love the oil bottle for a cherry pitter! Very clever!

Anonymous said...

hi priya'
as usual fanabulous! no limit to ur innovative ideas. great, keep going.

Vaishali said...

I'd love some of that peach-and-cherry crumble right now. The pictures are just gorgeous, Priya. And I like your creativity in innovating a cherry pitter. :)

karuna said...

wowow, hats off to u for coming up with such a cool idea to pit cherries. i am going to tell my friends abt this one for sure. And the cherry peach cobbler, awesome. the crust looks yummy

Anonymous said...

Hi Priya,

the cherries look awesome....The clicks are great!!! I hve nominated you for the Kreativ Blogger award. Do viit my site and claim your award.

Regards,

Shobha

anudivya said...

How smart Priya! I would have never thought of using a bottle lid as a cherry pitter. Crumble looks like it could be my dinner!

Nirmala said...

Thats a lovely juicy crumble. Haven't tried my hands on fruity desserts yet. The dhoklas were also spongy delicious. I missed this time for the Indian cooking challenge :(

Anita said...

Right, rub it in them fruits... We get cherries for a very short time, and these kind ( double gilass in Kashmir) really spoil fast and rarely make it all the way to Delhi. One summer we brought some back and since they were spoiling fast I made some into an amazing jam.

At least we can find peaches...if we are lucky. But, what am I saying - we have mangoes!

What, butter is also good for us! :)

Vani said...

Love your cherry pitter, Priya! What a neat idea! Lovely clicks too

Anu said...

Please collect your award from my blog :)

Pavani said...

Hi Priya, Please drop by my blog, I've an award waiting for you.. Thanks.

Unknown said...

Pics are great, the cherries look awesome!

Vaishali said...

Hey Priya, do pick an award from my blog-- and a tag.

Sapna said...

OMG !! Awesome pictures ! Very well captured. What camera/lens did you use ?

I have an XSI, and none of my pictures are comparable to yours :)

Good work !

mona said...

Pitting cherries is a real trouble. That gadget looks so cool.
Mouthwatering clicks!

Unknown said...

Great idea of pitting the cherries!! An the crumble looks yummy!

Mahek said...

HI
Priya,
Such breathtaking photos...
Thanks for the recipes

Mahek said...

HI
Priya,
Such breathtaking photos...
Thanks for the recipes

Dori said...

Nice cherry pitter! Crumble looks beautiful and yum!

Indu Subramanian said...

What an amazing blog priya. I am going nuts for your pictures and lovely ganeshas.Please accept your award from my blog

Nlhar said...

hi priya..
am a new reader to ur blog..:) seriously ur blog kindled my cooking idea.. will try out ur recipes soon

s said...

ur pics are excellent...just fantastic..

Anonymous said...

nice blog,

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