Recipe: Peach Almond Crumble
Pour scorn on tinned fruit and I will combat your derision with a phenomenally delicious crumble. Less scorn, more custard please.
I simply will not take the snobbish disdain that surrounds tinned fruit, especially tinned peaches. Tinned peaches are, in fact, a deep love of mine, and a product I view as a luxury, not some second-rate pantry stand-by. You see, when I was a child, there was nothing I desired more for pudding than a tin of peach slices, at that time most likely drenched in tooth-chattering syrup, decanted into a bowl and served with maybe custard, or most likely, a swathe of fresh cream. I adored, and still adore, their silky, almost slippery texture, and the fact that a ripe fresh peach has always been so hard to come by (I tire of their near-perennial wooliness) only added to their appeal.
The taste of tinned peaches may foster in me some form of unbridled childhood nostalgia, and that side of their allure is not to be understated, however, I truly see the tinned peach as a terribly useful product to have to hand in the kitchen. They make for a near-instant crumble, as evidenced by the one here, and I promise you will not feel short-changed once you give it a go.
The ground almonds are the star of the show in this crumble. They offer an enveloping nutty sweetness and also serve an intensely practical function - they thicken the jammy juices produced by the peaches.
INGREDIENTS
250g plain flour
125g cold butter, cubed
100g golden caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
75g ground almonds
3 x 400g tinned peach slices, drained
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5. Lightly butter a ceramic baking dish.
Add the peach slices to the bottom of the baking dish along with the ground almonds, the vanilla and a little sugar if you like things a little sweeter. Give everything a mix.
In a large bowl, rub the 125g cold butter cubes into the 250g plain flour until you have a mixture that resembles breadcrumbs. Fork through the caster sugar.
Strew the crumble mixture over the peaches.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-45 minutes until bubbling and lightly golden.
FOODIE PHRASE DU JOUR:
‘‘Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. ‘‘
- Mark Twain