Apricot Crumble

We received a beautiful surprise of apricots with our CSA share last week. We snacked on a few, but before I knew it they were starting to turn a little soft. I decided that they would make a lovely crumble, and I was right. I used Smitten Kitchen’s recipe as my spring board. Making a crumble or crisp topping is really pretty simple. It is always a combination of butter, sugar, flour, and oats with variations of spices or nuts added. I ended up trying this one because it called for melted butter instead of blending in chunks of chilled butter. That seemed a little faster and simpler, and I was curious what the difference in texture would be. I was really happy with the outcome! I did follow her suggestion and do half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. Combined with the fruit, that makes it healthy, right? My other deviations were leaving out the pecans because I did not have any and adding a sprinkle of Penzey’s Baking Spice.

I also peeled my apricots. I have never been a fan of cooked stone fruit skin, so I figured it was worth the extra step. I followed the standard method of scoring the fruit and dropping them in boiling water for a minute or two followed by a bath in cold water. The skin popped right off. Unintentionally, I ended up following her suggestion of just tearing the fruit apart. It was actually easier than trying to slice it!

I happened to be sipping on some white wine while throwing this together and R suggested I add a bit to the fruit, which I thought was an excellent idea. I used the wine to make a slurry with a bit of arrowroot starch and some sugar. I recommend arrowroot starch over cornstarch as a thickener for baked goods. For good measure, I tossed in some dried cranberries I noticed on the shelf. Excellent decision on my part if I do say so myself.

I am so happy I did this on the spur of the moment. It reminded me of how quick and easy it is to throw together a yummy dessert that takes advantage of the season’s fresh fruit. It also redeemed me from several disappointing baking endeavors from in the recent past… I suddenly began feeling under the weather after I finished putting dessert together so I ended up not eating mine last night. I can say it made an excellent breakfast this morning. It’s fruit, so it works for breakfast, right?

Oh yeah, my last production point. I used our cute-as-can-be Fiestaware individual pie dishes and made the crumble as two individual servings. I love Fiestaware!