Jul 14, 2009

plumble


Looking at this photo you might ask, where are the plums? Well I have to admit, there aren't any. Usually I make this plumble, aka "Plum and Peach Crisp" with a mix of peaches and plums, however over the weekend I went peach picking and came home with 50 pounds of peaches. Crazy, I know! But you must cut me a little slack, when you are out in the orchard among hundreds of peaches two little buckets doesn't seem like much. Until you get home...then you would be wrong. Once the peaches got home and were laid out in the kitchen, and dining room, and laundry. Then and only then did two buckets seem like a lot of peaches. More about peach picking and what I did with all 50 pounds tomorrow.

Plumble, a term Matt coined after this dessert became a regular summer treat, is one of my favorites. The crisp is hearty but not too sweet, and healthier than most using just a little butter and adding yogurt to keep things moist. Also it will keep for several days in the fridge and stay "crisp", which is nice. I say this is a dessert but when its in the house I usually have it for breakfast too.

Plumble (Plum and Peach Crisp)
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

fruit:
1 pound ripe peaches (I used 2 pounds of peaches this time)
1 pound ripe plums
1/4 cup natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch

crisp:
3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour (or all-purpose)
1/2 cup natural cane sugar (or brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
two pinches of salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup plain yogurt

Preheat the oven to 400 F degrees.

To prepare the fruit cut the peaches and plums into about 1-inch pieces. Place the chopped fruit in a medium-sized bowl. In a separate small bowl whisk together the 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch. Sprinkle over the fruit and toss well. Transfer the fruit to a pie dish or 8x8 square baking dish.

For the crisp combine the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and salt together in a medium bowl. Stir in the butter, and then the yogurt and mix until everything comes together in a dough-like texture. Spoon the crumble evenly over the fruit mix.

Place the baking dish in the oven, middle rack, and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the topping is golden. Sprinkle a bit more sugar on top as it comes out of the oven and grate a bit of lemon zest on top (optional). Enjoy warm or at room temperature.

Local Ingredients:
Peaches and plums are in season in Northern California right now.
Butter from Clover Organic Farms

(photography by: alison clayshulte)

7 comments:

Heather said...

sounds delicious. i am trying, want, to love peaches. they always sound good and then, well, bleh. but this recipe might give them the redemption they need ~ beside in fresh peach ice cream...the only place they have made a successful debut.

(visiting via Unravelling)

Kate England | Marmalade Moon said...

Hello Alison, delighted to find your blog so inspiring, lovely photography and food writings!!!!!!

PLUMBLE, what a brilliant name!

Fellow Unraveller,
Kate x

Alison Clayshulte said...

Heather - If you try this I'd love to hear what you think. I've never had peach ice cream. Maybe I can try that with some of the leftover peaches.

Kate - Thanks so much for your kind words. Yes, you can see why the name plumble has stuck.

Looking forward to unravelling with both of you!

Steph Bond-Hutkin said...

Do you think I could substitute apples for peaches and plums? They are in season in Oz at the moment, but we have to wait another 5 months for stone fruit.

Heather - have you tried poaching peaches in a lovely sticky syrupy sauce with a dollop of vanilla icecream on the side? You may yet convert...

Alison Clayshulte said...

Steph - I think you might be able to try the apples. I've had apple crisp before and its always good. I'll be sure to try it in a couple months when our apples come in to season and get back to you.

Bar said...

I substituted bing cherries (pitted, of course!) for the plums, and we all loved it. One member of the family has diabetes, so I used an equal amount of Splenda instead of cane sugar with no problem. Thanks for the great recipe!

Alison Clayshulte said...

Bar - That sounds wonderful! I have some canned cherries I might have to try it with this fall. Thanks for sharing your version. I'm so happy to hear it was a winner.