Go to the Recipe: Simple Fruit Crumble With Oatmeal Streusel Topping
i wanted to prepare this dairy free. would it work with coconut oil instead of butter?
yes. or use pectin but the fruit probably doesn't have enough of it's own pectin to support without extra pectin added
Does the cornstarch slurry still apply if I want to use frozen berries or strawberries ? ^^
You can also cook the fruit stovetop and the streusel in the oven by itself for an easy way to prep. That way you can have them ready and assemble à la minute( rewarm in oven or eat at roomtemp) . Or just cook the fruit then place the raw crumble on top and place in the oven to finish.
Hi. You can just go all almond if you like.
This recipe is a summertime staple. For juicier fruit I would recommend one intermediate step after step 2.
1. After combining the fruit + sugar mixture, place fruit in a strainer over a metal bowl. Wait 15-30m, stirring occasionally.
2. After 30m, place the fruit in your baking dish. Take the syrup that's collected in the metal bowl and place in a skillet over medium heat. Reduce by 50%, and pour over your fruit.
Without this step, crumbles with juicer fruit got too soupy for my liking. By turning the macerated fruit juice into a highly concentrated syrup, I got all the flavor and a lot less water.
Have made this recipe a bunch of times with whatever fruit we have to hand - always a winner. Tonight’s variation was nectarine and forelle pear, had to improvise when I found we were out of oats. Crumbled a handful of Weetabix in place, adjusted the amount of salt and it worked a treat! Nice toasty, caramel notes in the topping
I now realised that the calculation should be for fruit filling only. My bad.
The sugar and salt are divided into fruit filling and crumble topping. Breakout in steps below.
Hi. When comparing the % In the recipe vs what is automatically calculated when say for 1kg of fruit, it’s kinda off. 2% cornstarch 20g, 0.5% salt 5g, 10% sugar 100g. In the calculator it’s 200g sugar, 8g salt. So +100g sugar and 3g salt.
This is nice, I made it yesterday with blueberries and cherries. Idea: alchohol! Kirsch / others with the fruit?
what size saute pan/cast iron/baking dish is perfect size for 1500grams fruit and rest of ingredients?
My favorite fruit crumble. Gorgeous!
cherry and sour cherry
I have used both the raspberry and strawberry jam Chef Steps recipes with great success. One thing to keep in mind is that it is freezer jam and needs to be stored in the freezer. Even if the jars seal the jam inside doesn’t get hot enough to kill all mold. The flavor is much more natural because the fruit is not boiled to death. I add a pinch of food grade citric acid and omit the salt.
Has anyone used the Joule to create jam?
Would you be willing to share your recipe?
I have used this recipe many times and it is awesome.
What I find challenging, is how does the individual in this video convert the cherries into strawberries and back to cherries?
Could tapioca be substituted for the cornstarch?
What would be a pie filling ratio ? I guess up it to 4%-5% starch (maybe tapioca). any thoughts ?
How long would you suggest with apples?
Excellent recipe. I've made it several times and it has always been great. I just tried apples and would suggest cutting down the cooking time, as they were effectively applesauce after 50 minutes. Still tasted wonderful, though.
FYI-frozen fruit works great, Costco has 1.36kg bags of mixed which is my go-to. Also a 2 stick of butter crumble top is perfect for a 9x13 pyrex. 2 bags of 1.36kg would also work well in the pyrex, currently using 1 and its a bit thin on the fruit.
Does the same ratio apply if using frozen instead of fresh fruit?
Has anyone tried this with black currants? do they need more sugar? My backyard black currants are just ready to pick
Oats are mandatory in a crumble, what you are talking about is a crumb
Most crumble recipes I've seen opt for brown sugar. What was the CS reason for going with granulated?
I just made the crumble using just picked peaches and blackberries from a farm I went to. It came out still very liquidy and extremely salty. Next time I will definitely take the salt out of the mixture. A shame to waste such great fruit.
Sam,
Set the major ingredient, in this case the fruit, to 100g and the rest are in % for you.
Made a rhubarb crumble with this recipe today and the whole family loved it! Baked the rhubarb alone in the dish, on a low heat for 20-30 mins to make it just start to soften. Didn't add any lemon juice and also reduced the salt to a few pinches since rhubarb is naturally tarte. Couldn't find almond flour at my supermarket so just stuck to using regular AP flour (still 150g) and it still came out perfectly after about 40 mins.
Tried. The bubbles don't come out "clear," so I had to sneak a taste test from the side. Oh, darn. Seems ok. We'll see what a preschool class of 15 mo–3 year olds have to say.
Contemplating doing this with a bunch of frozen blueberries left over from last summer. Any tips for using frozen fruit? Can't wait to try it!
Oats in crumble is pretty common here in New Zealand, and same in Australia as well from my understanding. According to Wikipedia, "To further reduce the use of ... flour, fat and sugar, breadcrumbs or oatmeal could be added to the crumble mix." (with no citation, so don't know how legit that is). To me, fruit crumble consists of any sweet "crumbly" topping on top of cooked fruits. So this might not necessarily count as a legit crumble, but I'll eat the hell out of it when I make a feijoa version later this afternoon!
My crumble didn't sink, but my stuff didn't turn clear either. I used about half as much fruit so I think we might have to increase the oven temp(they mention it in another recipe) to get it to behave similarly.
Can you substitute the almond flour with all-purpose flour (equal weight)? Almond is expensive comparatively.
Ridiculously simple, yet doesn't compromise on the flavor. Now one of my go to recipes.
Craig, this looks fantastic! What type of berries did you end up using?
Solid recipe. I enjoy what you guys do. Thanks!
Let's get ready to crumble!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLtxFyxjhYE
Precisely what I logged in to say, Quaker Oats are definitely never gluten free and I expect more from ChefSteps.
Additionally, this is NOT a crumble. Call it a streusel topped cobbler or something but do not call it a crumble. A crumble consists of a topping that is butter, flour and sugar(s) made into a crumb. Nuts are permissible but oats are not and lead it down a very different path.
Love these recipes! Quick question: Any good substitutes for the oats? My wife is allergic.
I noticed that you are using Quaker Oats and are saying that it is gluten free. That is true but not in the case for those with Celiac Disease, Quaker Oats are not considered "gluten free" because they have been processed on the same equipment as wheat. The best source I have found is Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Oats. They have been processed on a completely different set of equiptment.
I myself have Celiac Disease and find it frustrating sometimes when people say what they have made is gluten free not knowing if the oats are truely gluten free or not.
I love love love ChefSteps, but one rule i have tought myself - unless it's something where the salty taste is absolutely significant, always divide the salt with 2.
Actually it's a bit of a loving joke at home if the food i serve is marvelous, but too salty - people asks if it's a ChefSteps recipe
Just made and most of my crumble sank It also never truly turned clear despite how long I left it in. Any idea what could have happened?
agree. I reduced the salt a bit after the fist one. Damn delicious recipe though.
Dear ChefSteps, You guys rock. This recipe is top notch, It's spring in Australia & I've made it with various fresh berries a few times already. Cheers.
You've probably already considered this, but I'd like to give it a +1. I don't always have exactly 0.5x, 1x, 2x or 4x the ingredients to make up. For convenience, can you please consider building in a selectable scale which might show the percentages for each?? (I've used the Modernist Cuisine ones & they're fine). I mostly reference the ChefSteps app on my phone while cooking or this web page, depending on convenience at the time. In this particular page I felt reading through the text to find percentages is a small hassle (thanks for including % though), & just got in the way of cooking. For now I've written them down for future reference.
Not a major deal, just my 2 cents.
Thanks again.
I preferred slightly less salt than suggested, but otherwise I believe this is a fantastic base recipe - I had great success with a variety of stone fruits and apples, and strawberries (all separate batches) Keep up the great work - I really appreciate it.
Terrible recipe... if you like a crumble to mimic the texture of cardboard, you'll love this recipe.
WAY too much salt for the fruit. Try a pinch - you'll get a far better result.
