It’s not difficult to become a crumble lover — the dessert, a crisp nutty topping that encloses warm pieces of fruit stewing in their own juice is simply irresistible. Especially when it’s served with vanilla-flavoured custard, just the way Billy, Philip’s Irish grandfather, used to eat it. We feel proud to be prolonging the family tradition.


Ingredients

For the fruit

• 4 rhubarb stalks (350 g; 12 1/2 oz), peeled and diced
• 2 large McIntosh or Cortland apples, peeled, cored, and diced
• 9 oz (255 g) strawberries, hulled and diced
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1/4 cup (50 g; 1-¾ oz) blond cane sugar
• Finely grated zest of 1 organic orange
• Unsalted butter, for the ramekins

For the nut crumble

• 1/3 cup (40 g; 1-1/2 oz) hazelnut flour
• 1/3 cup (55 g; 2 oz) sweet rice flour
• 1/3 cup (50 g; 1-3/4 oz) millet flour or amaranth flour
• 1/2 packed cup (100 g; 3-½ oz) light Muscovado sugar
• 1-1/2 oz (40 g) walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 1 oz (30 g) shelled unsalted green pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup (35 g; 1-1/4 oz) rolled oats
• 6 tablespoons (85 g; 3 oz) unsalted
• Butter, diced, at room temperature
• Plain yogurt or crème anglaise

Directions
1  To prepare the fruit crumble: In a bowl, combine the fruit with the lemon extract, sugar, and orange zest; let rest for 30 minutes. Butter eight 1-cup ramekins; set aside.

2  To prepare the nut crumble: In a bowl, combine the hazelnut, sweet rice, and amaranth flour, the brown sugar, walnuts, pistachios, and rolled oats. Add the butter and, using your fingertips, work until coarse crumbles form; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

3  Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).

4  Divide the fruit among the ramekins and top with the crumble. Bake the crumbles for 30 to 35 minutes, until the fruit bubbles and the topping is golden. Remove from the oven, let cool slightly, and serve with plain yogurt or crème anglaise.

Serves 6 to 8

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Excerpted from La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life by Beatrice Peltre. Copyright © 2012. Photography by Beatrice Peltre. Excerpted with permission from Random House. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.