My friends Mark and Bruce at Real Food Has Curves create some truly delicious recipes.
In the past I’ve blogged about their Paris-Brest ring, baked numerous batches of their figgy rolls, and eaten copious quantities of their caramelized leek tabbouleh. Mark’s recent Apricot Rhubarb Crisp inspired me to make a version using the frozen berries we’d bought in Marrickville recently.
The great thing about this recipe is its simplicity – the topping comes together with a stir (because it uses nut oil instead of butter), and the fruit is simply chopped and combined. It’s so easy, in fact, that I’ve made it twice in the past week – once to try it out, and then a second time as a dinner party dessert.
My version is sweeter than Mark’s, and uses hazelnuts instead of pecans in the topping. I was excited to discover blanched roasted hazelnuts at Southern Cross Supplies – in the past I’ve avoided buying hazelnuts because I couldn’t be bothered skinning them. I know it’s not a difficult process, but it makes such a mess!
Topping:
- 60g plain (AP) flour
- 45g rolled oats
- 70g brown sugar
- 60g chopped blanched hazelnuts
- 60g hazelnut oil
- 30ml maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch fine sea salt
Note: I used my scales to weigh out the ingredients, but Mark also has cup measures listed in his post.
1. Combine all the topping ingredients in a large bowl and stir until evenly moistened. Preheat oven to 175C with fan.
2. Fill a large roasting pan (I used my new Emile Henry dish) with an assortment of chopped fruits and berries – I used some of our new season rhubarb, about 500g of frozen berries, four peeled and chopped Bilpin Pink Lady apples, and some frozen cherries that I found in the freezer.
3. Sprinkle a tablespoon of cornflour over the fruit and sweeten with some plain or vanilla sugar, then stir gently to combine.
4. With your hands, crumble the topping over the fruit. It won’t cover the fruit completely, which is fine, because the topping is quite rich and needs a fair bit of fruit to balance it out.
5. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is, as the name suggests, crisp.
We accompanied ours with microwave custard, and the batch served six adults, with leftovers.
PS. I forgot to mention that this is a great do-ahead dessert. I baked the one below mid-afternoon, and then left it on the bench until evening. It only required a few minutes in the oven to reheat!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 