We’re kicking off Autumn here on What Charlotte Baked with a good old fashioned crumble. But, I wanted to do something a smidge different (of course) and so instead of traditional apples, this crumble is filled with sweet juicy cherries and tangy blueberries. Maybe it’s the most American crumble of all. Does America even do crumble? Well, they do now.
This dessert caused a bit of a disagreement between Katie and I over the use of cinnamon. I can’t get enough of cinnamon in crumbles. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not a crumble unless there is some cinnamon in the mix. Katie has the complete opposite opinion (due to an unfortunate incident with a cinnamon flavour jelly bean).
To make things fair, I reduced the amount of cinnamon in the recipe below to a ¼ teaspoon, although I do feel that if you want to bump it up to a ½ teaspoon then get on it. Or if you want to leave it out entirely then be my guest.
But seriously, the more cinnamon the better.
Disclaimer: Don’t put the whole jar in, please.
The topping on this cherry blueberry crumble is the crispy crunchy sort, because no one in the history of time has ever wanted a soggy crumble. The secret to this crispness is to sprinkle a (very) generous layer of flaked almonds right on top of the crumble, which tricks your mouth into thinking the topping itself is crispy. Plus, cherry + almonds always equals yum.
You aren’t going to have to pre-cook the fruit AT ALL. In fact, prepping the cherry blueberry base is as easy as mixing a few ingredients together. You can even do it in the pan you are going to bake it in if you like! Couldn’t be easier.
Oh, yeah, maybe it could. Pitting cherries is the worst. See if you can hunt out some frozen cherries at your local supermarket, because taking the stones out of 400g of cherries is pretty tedious. But worth it? Yes!
You so need to serve this crumble warm, and with vanilla ice cream. Sounds like my idea of heaven. And I’m not even a vanilla ice cream girl. But this is just calling out for it. Get it ready before you sit down for dinner, and then pop it in the oven before everyone tucks in to their main course. As soon as everyone has finished their Sunday roast, head off to the kitchen and pull this delicious crumble out of the oven. Everyone’s going to love you for it.
I’m so ready for autumn. And winter. I live for this time of year.
Oh yeah – I made a video for this one! I’m hoping to get the camera out a bit more during bakes and try and capture the actual baking process, because who doesn’t love to see how things are supposed to look. Let me know what you think ♥
- 400g (3 cups) cherries, pitted
- 200g (2 cups) blueberries
- 50g (¼ cup) caster sugar (US granulated)
- 3 tablespoons cornflour or cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 100g (¾ cups) plain or all-purpose flour
- 75g (¼ cup + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 75g (1 cup) jumbo rolled oats
- 100g (½ cup) light brown sugar
- 30g (1/3 cup) flaked almonds
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan). Place the cherries, blueberries, sugar, cornflour, almond extract, and cinnamon in a bowl and mix together until all the fruit is coated. Pour into a ceramic or glass baking dish, and press down with a spatula until nice and flat.
- Mix the flour and butter together in a medium sized bowl, until the lumps of butter are very small. I find using an electric hand-mixer works well for this. Add the oats and sugar to the bowl, and mix well using a spoon or spatula.
- Spoon the crumble topping onto the berries, and spread out with the back of a spoon until level. Sprinkle the flaked almonds on top, and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes - the almonds will look a golden brown colour. Serve warm with cream, ice cream, or custard.
- The crumble can be prepared ahead of time and kept in the fridge for a few hours before baking. Once baked, it is best eaten on the day. If necessary, any leftover crumble can be stored in the fridge and then reheated in the oven or microwave.
I don’t know if the rest of America does crumbles, but I made a cherry crumble this summer! I love the pool of berry juice on the plate here – and the addition of almonds! I think I smell another crumble coming on…
Almond and cherries are always a great idea Jessica! Thanks for your lovely comment 🙂
Oh my goodness you had me at cherry! I LOVE this. I can’t wait to make it!
Haha, thanks Shelby! 🙂