Autumn Crumble- A Sunday Lunch Special

Its hard to believe that the first month of Autumn has almost passed us. The temperature has cooled down slightly and the days are defintely getting shorter, but the all time 'autumn is coming' sign for me of leaves turning colour on trees, just hasn't started happening where we are now living. Im guessing it will very soon, and it will probably happen overnight!

The cool change that came through this week, along with the much needed rain, has been so very much welcomed. My husband said to me mid week, "You know, rain from the east generally means good big rain"- Actually, I didnt know that- and I grew up on a farm! The things you learn. I was hoping we might get some more (can I say that without sounding greedy?). The rain seems to put smiles back on people's faces, especially those in the country, and it's so nice to see shades of green start appearing on the sides of roads and in paddocks, not to mention how happy our garden is! Now as you drive around the countryside you will start seeing more and more tractors out in the paddocks preparing the grounds for their winter crops.

During the week my very lovely, thoughtful, food loving Mother in Law gave me a bunch of rhubarb she had bought at their local farmer's market. I love that she thought of me when seeing the rhubarb and  bought it especially for me. I do love my rhubarb!

So, normally I would make my favourite rhubarb cake (see here for recipe, and please excuse the post- it is one of my first one's, so perhaps very boring looking!!!). Trust me this cake is yummy, easy and does actually look so much better in real life than in that photo- which is why I love making it.

This time though- our bunch of rhubarb was screaming….CRUMBLE!!!!

So crumble away we did…..this recipe is all about autumn fruits, with the humble rhubarb still shining through and providing a lovely stewy base for the plums and apples to bathe in. The sultanas and almonds add some respectively, juicy and crunchy bites and the crumble is what brings it all together.

Need I say anymore? A crumble can be eaten (I think) at anytime of the day, probably most favourite in our house, is leftovers for breakfast!

Rhubarb, Apple & Plum Crumble
A bunch of rhubarb, cut up into 2 cm pieces
3-4 plums, quartered and stoned
2 apples, peeled and sliced into eigths
1/4 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup water
150g butter, chilled and diced
1 2/3 cups plain flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg
1/2 cup sultanas
1/2 cup flaked almonds

Heat a heavy based pan over medium heat. Add the fruit, sugar and water. Reduce to a lower heat and cook for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it and stir often so not to let it burn. The fruit should soften and cook down but still holds its shape. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 180 deg celcius.

Rub together butter, flour, brown sugar and spices until they resemble fine breadcrumbs.

Mix the sultanas and almonds in with the fruit and pour into an ovenproof dish.
Top with crumble mix and bake in oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Best served warm with delicious custard, but ice cream and/or cream would work a treat too!

Recipe from In The Kitchen by Allan Campion & Michele Curtis

Have you a favourite crumble dish?

Happy Sunday x

Josephine's Plum Clafoutis

A few weeks ago, I had a lovely email from a lady named Josephine. Josephine was keen to bake the Nectarine, Raspberry & Almond Cake but just wanted to double check the quantities in the recipe. I had (possibly in my sleep deprived state) made a typo and was so pleased and appreciative to have that bought to my attention. Thank you Josephine…. xxxx

Josephine emailed back a few days later to say she had baked the cake and it was a huge hit amongst friends….Hooray!. She had also baked an Apricot Clafoutis- which as I confessed to Josephine, I had heard about but never baked. I was now on a mission to bake one.

So, last weekend, we headed down to our local farmers markets and stocked up on fruit and vege. My bargain buys of the day were kilo bags of peaches, nectarines and plums for $2.50 each. The stall holder told me the plums were a tart variety- perfect for stewing or a ……clafoutis! Perfecto!!! It was mean't to be.

For those who dont know, Clafoutis (prenounced Kla-foo-tee) is a rustic looking french dessert, traditionally made with cherries (but any fruit can be used) and baked in a pancake/custard like mixture.  The recipe I used I found here. I also came across this video demonstration here which was helpful too.

The verdict- it was a lovely and pure comfort food! The plums just oozed into the baked custard and tasted so sweet. As you can see there was no time to dust icing sugar on top- actually truth is, we didn't have any in the pantry! We ate it warm with lots of custard. I will say though the mixture was more like a baked custard and not like a super thick pancake.

It was the perfect afternoon tea snack for my not very clean little artist!

Thank you again to Josephine for your lovely email- it made my day receiving it.

And thank you also for the heads up on the Clafoutis!

As the french say…Bon Appetit x

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