MIXED BERRY + RHUBARB CRUMBLE

May is the fullest month we have over here. About seven birthdays within both our immediate families (my own included), mothers day, memorial..it makes for a lot of holidays and celebrating. With celebrating, comes treats. And if ice cream reigns my dessert of choice, brownie or chocolate molten cake a la mode comes second and then it's a berry or stone fruit crumble/crisp...which is usually served with ice cream. I see a theme? I like lots of oats and preferably low on the sugar so I can top it with plain goat yogurt for a permissible breakfast, but the other lead eater in our house prefers his sweet. "Not a breakfast crumble please, like a real dessert kind" was the request, and this recipe here is some sort of compromise. Sweet, but not too sweet and heavy on the crumble. It has oats and almonds and rice flour in the topping and some sweet but tangy fruit beneath that buckles under the heat to soften in its own syrup. I used rice flour in the crumble portion as I was serving this at a dinner party with a few gluten intolerant people, but it makes for such a great texture, I'd use it regardless. It makes for a more delicate topping while still being crunchy from the oat shards and nuts. You would get more cookie-like chunks with all purpose flour so feel free to swap that in. Personal preference I suppose. Either way, happy May my friends. 

MIXED BERRY + RHUBARB CRUMBLE // Serves 6

The full recipe is available on the Electrolux site Live.Love.Lux

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PEACH + BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE

Our pastor is requiring us to write promises to each other for the wedding, and read them aloud. It's just part of his program, it's not an option, and I do agree with the reason that it personalizes the ceremony. I enjoy writing personal things, but the thought of speaking in front of 138 people, a paragraph that will relay my commitment, gratitude and humbleness towards marrying a man I am wholeheartedly crazy about, is a bit daunting. I've been brainstorming, and am taking note of every emotion that passes in these next few weeks. We just found a place to live recently, Hugh is moving in next Tuesday, and there is a warmness I feel in anticipation of having a home with him. It will be our place - a place we get to wake up, drink coffee, read books, work together, tell secrets, enjoy friends, stay up late watching movies and all else that fills our days. Sure, we don't exactly own any furniture at this moment, but I'm actually excited to eat canned soup on the floor while we don't have a table, a stocked kitchen, or unwrapped pots and pans. Isn't that all part of the endearing cliche of being a newlywed? My point is that just as a school is a place you learn or a hospital is a place you get well, a home is a place you love and I CAN'T wait. We won't be in this place forever, but the intangible parts of building a 'home' begin now.

So cheers to home; the occasion calls for a treat like this. The perfect combination of ingredients as we transition from the end of summer towards the beginning of fall. It's something perfect to share, and regardless of where you live, a crumble tastes just as wonderful on the floor of a new apartment as it would on a pretty kitchen table.

PEACH + BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE // Makes 6 Small Ramekins, 4 Large, or 8x8 pan

You could use more or less honey depending on the sweetness of your fruit. I got the tail end of these summer fruits, so I found this measurement to be a perfect compliment to their sweetness. There is flexibility in this recipe - you can use any citrus juice for the orange, your nut of choice, or another flour you have on hand. This could easily be a vegan crumble by substituting the one egg white for a bit of flaxseed meal, and topping it with a non-dairy frozen treat.

3 Peaches (about 1 lb.)

2 Cups Blackberries

1 Tbsp. Fresh Orange Juice

2 Tbsp. Fresh Thyme Leaves

2 Tbsp. Whole Wheat Flour

1/3 Cup Honey

3/4 Cup Oats

1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/3 Cup Chopped Pecans

1 tsp. Sea Salt

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Muscavado or Natural Cane Sugar

3.6 oz./ 1/3 Cup Unrefined Coconut Oil, warmed to a liquid

1 tsp. Real Vanilla Extract

1 Egg White

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream/Gelato for serving

Oven to 375'

1. Wash and dry fruit. Cut peaches into 1'' chunks and place in a bowl, add the blackberries as they are. Toss the fruit with the fresh orange juice and thyme leaves. Sprinkle the whole wheat flour and honey over the fruit, and toss gently. If the mixture looks fairly wet, depending on the ripeness of your fruit, add a bit more flour.

2. Fill the ramekins or pan about 80% full of the fruit mixture. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, combine the oats, whole wheat flour, muscavado/natural cane sugar, pecans, salt, cinnamon and mix. Add the coconut oil, vanilla, and egg white and combine into the dry ingredients. It should resemble a loose, crumbly dough. Distribute evenly between the ramekins, or on top of the 8x8 pan.

4. Place the ramekins on a cookie sheet, and set on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for 20 minutes until the top is golden and a bit of fruit juice is bubbling up the side. I like the fruit to stay a bit firm, if you like it soft, give it another 5-10.