Fresh Fruit Chocolate Crumbles
| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Prep time | 15 min |
| Cook time | ~30 min @ 350° |
| Source | Brownie Points (pg 144) |
| Yield / serves | 9x9 pan |
| Rating | Delicious |
This recipe more of a dessert framework and not detailed instructions; there are a lot of "to taste" and "if ..." statements in the instructions. See the #Notes section at the bottom for things we have done.
Ingredients
- 4 c fruit: sweet or sour cherries, raspberries, cranberries, pears (peeled & diced), or any combination
- 1/4+ c brown sugar
- lemon juice, other juice, water, or liqueur
- 1-2 T cornstarch
- spices
- Brownie Crumble
- icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch square or round glass baking disk with 2-inch sides.
Place the fruit in a bowl. Start by sprinkling with 1/4 cup of sugar. Let sit for about 15 minutes. Taste the juice at the bottom of the bowl. Is it too sweet? Squeeze in some fresh lemon juice. Is it not sweet enough? Add some more sugar.
If your fruit hasn't given off any liquid after sitting in the sugar, add any one of the suggested liquids in the ingredient list. Cherries might not give up juice, cranberries won't, and if your pears aren't ripe, they won't either. Start with 1/4 cup of fruit juice: orange, cranberry or even apple. Use just enough to dissolve the cornstarch. You can use liqueur too, if you want: framboise with raspberries, kirch with cherries, or Poire William with pears, etc..
Sprinkle 1 Tbsp cornstarch over the fruit and toss to make sure it gets thoroughly moistened by the fruit juice. Fruits that are naturally high in pectin, like cranberries, may not need this at all, but if you like your crumbles more like pie filling, then add another teaspoon or two of cornstarch dissolved in some of the liquid. Let sit for a few minutes and toss the fruit together again.
Add some spices to taste. Try ginger and/or nutmeg with pears. Cinnamon is great with cranberries; I don't think you need anything with raspberries; but a bit of almond extract (up to 1 tsp) is both with both kinds of cherries (try 1/4 tsp at first).
Tumble the entire mixture into the prepared pan, including all the accumulated liquid, dissolved sugar, cornstarch and spices.
Top with the crumble and bake until you see the liquid bubbling around the edges and up through the center of the crumble. If it's not bubbling, the cornstarch won't thicken and you will have a grainy sauce. The crumble will be crisp and firm when done. If crumble starts to darken before the juices come to a boil, cover with aluminum foil to prevent burning.
Before serving, dust the top with icing sugar.
Notes
= Frozen Sweet Cherries
When making with frozen sweet cherries, allow the cherries to thaw.
Ingredients:
- 2-3 T of kirsch for the liquid
- 2+ T cornstarch
- 1/2 t nutmeg
- 1/4 - 1/2 t almond extract
- 1/2 t cardamom
