nectarine and apricot crumble

Firstly Id like to kick off by wishing you a very happy new year. I hope 2013 is all it’s cracked up to be for you. I for one and very excited about it. There is the cathartic ushering out of the old and the welcoming in of the new which I like, and whilst I don’t ever make or stick to resolutions anymore, I do like to take stock at this time and think ahead about goals I have for the upcoming year.

And OMG I have so many.

I’m also not one to predict food trends for the next 365 days, frankly I don’t have access to the data and am simply not qualified to do so. I believe unless you are immersed in the subject of trend forecasting, work in research, for a major food corporate or magazine, it is not your place to regurgitate what you read on the internet in an attempt to make yourself look important and knowledgeable about food.

Sure I’m fascinated with the food trends out there and read about them all the time. We can all make observations about what we see, read and experience around us, but to attempt to predict what will become hot over the next year and what will not is just annoying.

The best article I have read so far on it is Bon Appetit’s 25 Food trends for 2013. I was tickled to see the Paloma as rated the new #1 cocktail. I posted about how to make the perfect Paloma in March last year and its now ranked as my number one blog post with 28 thousand pins. A sign of the times perhaps, or is Drizzle & Dip bang on trend?

Anyway I digress,  let’s get back to the business of making deliciousness, and I have decided to kick off the year on a sweet note. Last year my first recipe was also a dessert and funnily enough of the boozy fruit variety too. You will find boozy- fruit dessert recipes an ongoing ‘trend’ on Drizzle & Dip.

Mildly obsessed with all manner of apple crumble, the combination of nectarines and apricots in a pie just felt right. Of course I added a splash of booze, and Kirsch (cherry) goes so well with these flavours.

I tend to keep my tarts fairly tart, so if you like them sweeter, you may want to up the sugar in the filling to 100ml. I also leave the skins on as they don’t bother me, but if you would like your filling less rustic, I would suggest removing the skins by pouring boiling water over the fruit and then peeling the skins off.

Recipe | makes 1 pie

crumble:

• 1/4 cup almond flour / ground almonds
• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 120g cold butter
• 1/2 t cinnamon

filling:

• 5-6 nectarines cut into 8 wedges
• 6 – 8 apricots cut into quarters
• 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar
• 2 T kirsch (totally optional)

Pre heat the oven to 180C. Toss the fruit in a bowl with the sugar and the Kirsch and allow it to macerate a bit while you make the crumble.

To make the crumble simply put all the ingredients for this into a food processor and pulse until you have a fine crumb.

Tip the filling contents into an appropriately sized pie or oven dish and top with the crumble topping which you can spread evenly over the top. Bake for around 30 – 35 minutes until the topping is golden and the filling is just starting to bubble up the sides of the dish.

Adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream is almost obligatory.

I look forward to connecting with you again