Plum & almond crumble slice

Finally…a day for doing “nothing” which for me tends to translate in being able to bake and cook. I still had some plums that I urgently needed to use before they would go bad, so I searched the internet for a recipe using plums. Obviously this particular recipe can be used with whatever fruit you desire and since it is extremely tasty I would recommend you do just that!

I had never before made a crumble so I figured that would be a good thing to try. Since we started with our patisserie course I am also finding that I am all of a sudden very much into baking. I’ve always loved baking even though it can be a bit more restricting then cooking. (in terms of exact quantities and such) Which reminds me that when we had the class with Carle last Friday; we talked about the need to measure exact when making a batter or dough. And then – as it turns out – what happens in a lot of cases, is that you actually leave lots in the bowl when scraping it out. So that defeats the whole purpose of being so precise to measure – for instance – 116 gr of egg whites. You then beat the egg whites and when scraping you forgot to add the 5 grams that stick to the side of the bowl. Sort of silly when you think about it, so I made myself the promise that I will scrape better…

This particular recipe uses quite a large amount of ground almonds, which worked fine for me as I still had some leftover in the bag. Not enough for this recipe, so I ground a few more almonds myself. Which I have to remind myself now to buy extra ground almonds next time I get to Amsterdam!

Making this crumble is certainly not difficult but it is a bit timeconsuming as you need to bake it in three separate layers. First you bake the bottom, then you add the softer layer with the plums and then you finish by adding the crumbles and almonds. So it does take a while for it all to be finished but it is definitely worth it!

PLUM AND ALMOND CRUMBLE (original recipe from GoodFood website)

250g pack butter (this must be very cold)
225g caster sugar
300g ground almonds
140g plain flour , plus 25g/1oz
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
approx 6 plums , stoned and cut into sixths
50g flaked almonds


Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line a 20 x 30cm baking tin with baking paper. Put the butter, sugar and ground almonds into a food processor, then pulse until the mixture resembles very rough breadcrumbs. Spoon out half the mix into a bowl and set aside.
Add 140g flour into the mix in the processor and whizz until it just forms a dough. Tip into the tin and press down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 15-20 mins until golden. Leave to cool for 10 mins.
To make the filling, put the remaining butter and the sugar and almond mix back into the processor, saving a few tbsp for the topping. Add the eggs, the 25g flour, cinnamon and baking powder and whizz to a soft batter. Spread over the base.
Top with the plum pieces and a little extra caster sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 20 mins, then sprinkle with the remaining crumble mix and flaked almonds. Cook for another 20 mins or until golden. Leave to cool in the tin before slicing.