summer berry crumble

I’m writing to you today from the heavenly beach of Punta Cana, with the sand blasting on my skin as I type. We’ve lucked out with the weather so far — besides one full day of rain which I spent editing photos for this post — which explains the slowdown on posts shared lately (sorry my dears!). Those following me on Instagram know that I’ve been here for over a week already, enjoying the beach and the sun while sipping on coconut water and eating lots of delicious produce. Punta Cana has some of the best mangoes I’ve ever tasted, as well as loads of pineapples, guavas and papayas. Despite all the delicious fruits available here, no strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are to be found; unfortunately for me, as they’ve become part of my daily diet back home. Although I’ve been having my fair dose of mangoes and pineapples, I have to admit that I miss my morning berry oatmeal breakfast…and keep dreaming of this big batch of summer berry crumble that I prepared for dessert one night before we flew off to the Caribbean.

Whenever you have fruits that seem like they’ll rot unless you eat them within the next 24 hours, you have two choices: throw them in the blender and make a smoothie, or use them as a base for a scrumptious crumble. I had 1.5kg of mixed berries in my fridge, and instead of turning them into one of my favorite summer fruit salads, I decided to bake them topped with a crunchy crumble mixture. I’d see a variety of fruit under this crumble — ranging from apples, pears and bananas to peaches, apricots and cherries — but this time around I decided to use a mix of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Some like their crumble extra-juicy, however I like mine more chunky so that it retains the texture of each fruit. To ensure that my crumble doesn’t float around in berry juice, I first generously sprinkle all-purpose flour over my berries, mixing them together with some brown sugar to bring out their natural sweetness. I top the whole with a crumble mixture inspired by Honest Cooking’s Red Fruit Crumble, combining all-purpose flour with rolled oats, ground almonds, brown sugar, baking powder and butter (or margarine) until I reach a mixture that easily crumbles in my hands. I then take pieces of the crumble mixture and top my berries, covering them with the crumble like patchwork to seal the berries beneath. I top the crumble with roughly chopped pistachio slices, giving it even more crunchiness.

The crumble is then baked in the oven for 40 minutes until the top appears golden and juices from the berries begin to ooze. Serve the crumble either warm or at room temperature, topped with ice cream or whipped cream if you’d like even more sweetness, although it’s honestly so delicious as is that you won’t need to add anything else!

 

How did your summer berry crumble come out? Share photos of your recipe on Instagram with the hashtag #savormania