Peach, Cherry & Almond Crumble

Don't you just love the summer months when we have access to lovely fresh fruits and vegetables. A lot of vegetables are grown here locally in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. We also have a wide variety of apples, grapes, cherries, melons, berries (including cranberries), pears, plums and a few peach orchards.
By and large however, we get our peaches and nectarines from Southern Ontario, but there are a few private farms that do grow and sell peaches in season.
Peach, Cherry & Almond Crumble

Right now we are enjoying local cherries and peaches, nectarines and plums from Ontario. I picked up some peaches and cherries the other day hoping to make a delicious dessert with them.
The recipe I decided to bake comes from a book I have entitled Rustic Fruit Desserts, by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson. I love old fashioned desserts like cobblers, crumbles, pies, buckles, pan dowdies, and this book is full of them.
Peach, Cherry & Almond Crumble

I adapted this recipe from the original which used nectarines and boysenberries. I did not have those. I had cherries and peaches. I also did not want 8 - 10 servings, so I cut the recipe in half.
This is not the first recipe I have baked from this book. It is filled with a wide assortment of lovely sounding, old-fashioned desserts, most of which can be adapted to use with just about any fruit so long as you know what you are doing.
Peach, Cherry & Almond Crumble

I especially love crumbles, or crisps as they are also called. Who wouldn't! That lovely sweet and sticky stewed fruit bottom. That sweet crumbly crisp buttery topping. What's not to love!
This combination of peaches and cherries is especially nice. I also love the addition of the flaked almonds in the topping. Altogether a most delicious combination! The perfect blend of sweet/tart and buttery/crisp/flakey.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE PEACH, CHERRY & ALMOND CRUMBLE
Not a lot really. Pretty basic baking cupboard ingredients and the fruit of course!
For the crumble topping:

3/4 cup (89g) plain all purpose flour
1/3 cup (65g) granulated sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1/4 cup (60g) cold butter, cut into cubes
1/3 cup (42g) toasted flaked almonds

For the fruit filling:

1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 TBS corn starch (corn flour)
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
3 large peaches, peeled and each cut into 10 to 12 slices
1 cup (154g) pitted sweet cherries
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Make sure your butter for the crumble topping is cold. This will give a nice light texture to the crumble. Also do toast your almonds. They just taste nuttier.
I always toast my nuts when I am using them for baking. It is very simple to do. Just spread them out onto a baking sheet in a single layer and toast in a moderate oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely prior to using.
Peach, Cherry & Almond Crumble

I like to peel my peaches prior to using them. This is also very easy to do. Cut a cross in the bottom of each peach and lower them into a saucepan of boiling water. Leave for about 60 seconds and then lift out to a bowl of cold water.
The skins should slip off very simply then. You don't have to peel them, but I am not fond of cooked skins in either peaches (or tomatoes). I always remove them.

You can also use frozen peaches and cherries if you wish. No need to thaw, just mix as per the recipe. It will take a bit longer to bake however.

HOW TO MAKE PEACH, CHERRY & ALMOND CRUMBLE
This is a very simple dessert to make. The filling just stirs together and the crumble topping is basically just dry and fat ingredients rubbed together.
Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Butter a (1 1/2 QT/1 1/2 liter)baking dish and set aside.
Place all of the fruit into a bowl. Add the corn starch, sugar, salt and vanilla. Gently mix together.
Measure the flour for the topping into a bowl. Add the sugar and salt. Drop in the butter. Rub it in with your finger tips or a pastry blender until crumbly. Gently fold in the almonds.
Spoon the fruit filling into the baking dish. Sprinkle the crumble topping over all.
Bake in the preheated oven, uncovered for 45 to 55 minutes until the fruit filling is bubbling and the crumble is golden brown.
Leave to cool for 30 minutes prior to serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or warm custard. Delicious!

Notes

You can use frozen fruit. Do not thaw. It will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes longer to bake. Make sure all of the fruit is bubbling to make sure it is cooked all the way through.

To toast the almonds, spread out on a baking sheet in a single layer and place into the oven while it is preheating. Watch carefully so they do not burn. It only takes 5 to 8 minutes for them to toast.

This was really delicious served warm and spooned into bowls along with either a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, or some whipped cream, or in the British way with pouring cream or warm custard.
Today I served mine with warm custard. You can find my recipe on how to make your own custard here. Its not all that hard to make, or you can use custard powder, or even tinned custard.
I learned to love my desserts/puddings with custard when I was in the U.K. Today was a real treat for me. I was in dessert heaven!

Some other fabulous fruit desserts here on The English Kitchen are:

SPICED PLUM CAKE - This is a really lovely cake with a beautiful batter flavored with warm baking spices . . . nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon . . . and studded throughout with plenty of sweet slices of plum. Most delicious served with lashings of cold cream.
NECTARINES BAKED IN CREAM - Delicious sweet/tart nectarines oven poached in a sweet vanilla cream, topped with flaked almonds. A beautiful dessert. simple and incredibly tasty.
Yield: 4 - 5Author: Marie Rayner