With the weather getting ever cooler as we head towards winter it’s impossible to resist the temptation of warm and comforting foods. Food such as soups, casseroles, risottos and warm desserts. One of those desserts I crave in winter is a crumble. Cooked fruit and a crunchy topping is a delicious textural flavour sensation that can’t help but warm your soul.
While apple crumble is a wonderful staple to have in your repertoire, I love playing with different fruit combinations and toppings. For this crumble I wanted to combine some of the beautiful plums and pears we received in our farm box, but for the crumble topping I wanted to do something a little different. Chocolate and pears go wonderfully together as do chocolate and plums, so I settled on a chocolate crumble topping to which I added quinoa flakes.
When I served the crumble my boyfriend admitted that while he enjoys fruit crumbles the crumble topping is not usually his favourite part, but in this case it was. I was surprised because I wasn’t sure what he would think of the addition of quinoa to the crumble topping, but perhaps he didn’t notice……
What is your favourite crumble combination?
Chocolate Quinoa Pear & Plum Crumble
Ingredients
- 3 pears cut into cubes and peeled if you like
- 3 plums cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of plain flour
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
CRUMBLE TOPPING:
- 3/4 cup of plain flour all purpose
- 2 tablespoons of cocoa
- 1/4 cup of white sugar
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons of white quinoa flakes
- 115 grams of butter cut into cubes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsuis (350 degrees farenheit).
- In a bowl add the cubed pear and plums and add the sugar, vanilla extract and flour and mix together until the fruit is coated. Pour the fruit into individual ramekins and set aside while you make the crumble topping.
- In a mixer bowl add the flour, sugars, salt, quinoa flakes, cocoa and butter and mix until the butter starts to form pea sized clumps.
- Sprinkle the crumble topping over the fruit.
- Bake in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until the crumble topping is golden and the juices start to bubble through the crumble topping.
- Serve with vanilla bean ice cream or freshly whipped cream.
