Fresh Fruit Crumble (gluten-free : nutrient-dense)

Crispy and sweet on top, warm and juicy underneath: fresh fruit crumble is a great way to make the most of seasonal fruits. I prefer to make fruit crumbles instead of pies most of the time, as crumbles are so much easier to put together. With just a few little tweaks, the same recipe can be used for a variety of different fruits.

Fresh Fruit Crumble
Serves 6-8

• Fruit Filling: choose one of the following options depending on your choice of seasonal fruits.
• Apple
• 4 cups chopped, peeled Granny Smith apples
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
• 1 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup mild honey, preferably local
• 2 Tb arrowroot starch
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt

• Black Cherry
• 4 cups pitted and halved black (sweet) cherries
• 1 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp organic almond extract
• 3 Tb cup mild honey, preferably local
• 2 Tb arrowroot starch
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt 

• Strawberry Rhubarb
• 3 cups hulled and sliced strawberries
• 1 cup chopped rhubarb
• 1 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp organic almond extract
• 3 Tb cup mild honey, preferably local (or more if your berries are not very sweet)
• 2 Tb arrowroot starch
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt

• Mixed Berries
• 4 cups berries (my favorite combination is a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, and marion blackberries)
• 1 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp organic almond extract
• 3 Tb cup mild honey, preferably local (or more if your berries are not very sweet)
• 2 Tb arrowroot starch
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt

• Crumble Topping: 
• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup ground crispy almonds or pecans
• 1/2 cup white rice flour (click here if you wonder why I use white rice instead of brown)
• 3/4 cup sucanat
• 1 stick of cold butter, preferably from grassfed cows
• pinch of fine-ground celtic sea salt

• Sweetened Whipped Cream (recipe follows) or Vanilla Ice Cream (optional)

1. One trick to making a crispy crumble topping is to make sure that the butter stays cold.  Keep the butter in the fridge until just before you are going to use it.
2. Combine all fruit filling ingredients except for the fruit, and stir until well-mixed.
3. Add the fruit into the mixture and stir to combine. 
4. Grease an 8X8 square glass baking dish with a bit of butter.  Pour in the fruit filling.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Chop the cold butter into approximately 1/2-inch cubes.  Place the chopped butter in the fridge to stay cold while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
7. Combine the remaining crumble topping ingredients in a medium-large bowl and stir to combine.
8. Add the chopped butter to the dry ingredients. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, until there is a uniform, crumbly consistency. Note: a food processor does not work very well for this recipe, so use a pastry cutter or two knives instead.
9. Spread the crumble topping evenly over the fruit in the baking dish.
10. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling nicely and the topping has reached a medium brown color.
11. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
12. Sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream are fantastic served alongside warm fruit crumble.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

• 2 cups raw cream
• pinch of fine ground celtic sea salt
• 1/2 tsp organic or homemade vanilla extract
• 2-4 Tb raw mild-flavored honey, to taste*

1. Beat the cream and salt together until the mixture starts to get thick and fluffy.  I like to use my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer with the wire whip attachment, but you could also use a hand mixer.
2. Add the vanilla extract, and drizzle in the honey while the mixer is running.  Alternatively, you could drizzle in the honey a little at a time and mix between each honey addition. 
3. If you're using a stand mixer, use a silicone spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times to make sure you don't have any clumps of honey at the bottom.  I like to beat it until it gets a bit stiff since it will tend to soften up a bit in the fridge over the next few days.
4. Store the whipped cream in the fridge in an airtight bowl.

*If your raw honey is very crystallized, place it over a bowl of warm water to make it a bit runny.