Ian’s Mum is overloaded with windfall pears, so we helpfully brought a bag of them home with us. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them so poached them and had a think whilst they rested in the fridge. I also had 4 peaches that were looking at me with attitude.

What to do.

I had loads of recipes for what is in essence a sponge/pound cake hybrid with fruit chucked in, but they all had one thing in common – best served warm. Now anything is better warm; chocolate, bread, your dinner, your body….

… but if a cake is BEST warm, that indicates to me that as far as cakes go, it isn’t going to be a great recipe. Not only that, it also means that tomorrow, that cake is going to be soggy and that’s just unpleasant.

So I thought, well better do a dessert then. Couldn’t be bothered with pastry, had discarded the cakey-pudding concept, so that left me with crumble.

We like crumble. The best part about crumble is the crumble, but pears and peaches are pretty marvellous too.

If you’re not feeling a peach vibe, check out my Pear and raspberry Crumble…

So I had my dodgy peaches

My poached pears

Butter an oven proof dish and chuck in the fruit, then add a couple of tblsp of maple syrup

and a couple tblsp light brown sugar, then stir it all around

Then to the crumble.

Rub 140g unsalted butter into 200g plain (all purpose) flour, then stir in 100g light brown sugar.

Using a spoon, sprinkle this over the fruit

don’t press it in, just sprinkle until you get a good, evenish, thick covering

keep going; we like our crumble substantial – it’s much deeper than a ‘crisp’. I love it when bits seep down the side.

In a preheated oven GM6/200C/400F for about 35 mins. If your fruit is underripe, be prepared to wait nearer an hour. No two apples cook the same way. Or pears or peaches.

Serve hottish-warm with custard, cream or ice cream.

You can chill it and re-heat the next day, but be sure to cover the top with foil for its second blast in the oven. Likewise, you could freeze it, then defrost and re-heat. A nice way to keep Summer flavours for the long Winter months.

Have a look too at my recipe for Pear and Raspberry Crumble.

Fruit variations:
traditional cooking Brambley apple, with a hint of clove and/or cinnamon
pears
add blackberries, blueberries or raspberries to any of the main fruits
peaches alone
plums
damsons (if they’re not horridly bitter, or if that doesn’t bother you)
Remember to increase the sugar over the fruit. The fruit I used was poached and the peaches very ripe. For something like apples or raw pears, I would use  1/4 cup light brown sugar over the fruit before adding the crumble.

Pear and Peach Crumble

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3 peaches, peeled, stoned and sliced
4 large pears, peeled, cored and chunked
2 tblsp maple syrup
2 tbsp light brown sugar (increase as necessary)

(or any variation of fruit and quantity of,for that matter)

200g (1 and 3/4 cups) plain flour
140g (5 oz, 1 and 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter
100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) light brown sugar

Preheat oven to GM6/200C/400F

Prepare your fruit and tumble it into a well buttered ovenproof dish. Add the maple syrup and sugar; stir to mix.
(it’s worth noting here that my pears were already poached and sweetened and the peaches were perfectly ripe and sweet; had they not been, I would have used more like 1/4 cup of light brown sugar over them)

In a large bowl, rub the butter into the flour until crumbly, then stir in the sugar.
Using a spoon, scatter the crumble topping over the fruit – don’t press it down – evenly.

Put dish into oven and bake for around 35 mins. If your fruit is on the hard side, this could take around 50 – 60 mins.
Feel free to increase the crumble quantity – just keep the proportions the same. Unlike a crisp, the crumble topping is deeper, so you want a blanket of it.

Serve hottish-warm with custard, cream or ice cream. You can chill it and re-heat the next day, but be sure to cover the top with foil for its second blast in the oven. Likewise, you could freeze it, then defrost and re-heat. A nice way to keep Summer flavours for the long Winter months.

Fruit variations:
traditional cooking Brambley apple, with a hint of clove and/or cinnamon
pears
add blackberries, blueberries or raspberries to any of the main fruits
peaches alone
plums
damsons (if they’re not horridly bitter, or if that doesn’t bother you)
Remember to increase the sugar over the fruit.