Ginger Pear Crumble Slice and Ginger Crunch Slice

It’s been a month since we were on vacation. I don’t know where that month went, but in early September I was lounging by a sparkling pool with the hot, bright sun in my face, lazily reading Donna Hay magazine issue 51 to be exact. I cut several pages from that issue and I’ll be mentioning some other dishes soon, but first I have to tell you about these cookie squares. They’re from an article about classic bars, or slices, ranging from lemon to chocolate peppermint, and they all looked delicious. What you see here are the first two I tried which were the filled crumble slice and the ginger crunch slice. In the article, the crumble slice was made with a fresh rhubarb filling. Rhubarb season is long gone here in the northern hemisphere, so I used preserves instead. These weren’t just any preserves though. My friend Stephanie has started a new business called Confituras selling her amazing preserves, jams, pickles, and all manner of confitures. Everything is made with locally sourced ingredients, and if you can’t make it to the farmers’ markets or local shops where jars are sold, you can order online. Her lovely ginger pear preserves were delicious in these crumble bars.

The cookie base was made with sugar, flour, baking powder, egg and melted butter. It was pressed into a pan and baked until golden. I spread twelve ounces of ginger pear preserves over the base and then added the crumble topping made by rubbing cold butter into flour and sugar with your fingertips. It went back into the oven for another 40 minutes. These were rich, little squares, and the bits of pear with ginger flavor in the preserves made a nice fruit layer in the middle.

The second cookie bar, and the one shown below, was called ginger crunch. The base for this one was made more like a pastry crust. Cold butter was pulsed in a food processor into a mixture of flour, baking powder, sugar, and ground ginger until crumbly, and then that combination was pressed into a baking pan and baked for about 30 minutes. Once cool, it was topped with a thick glaze made by melting butter with honey and more ground ginger, and then whisking in confectioners’ sugar. I actually ran out of ground ginger and only had about a teaspoon to use rather than the full one and a half tablespoons suggested for the glaze, so I used a little grated, fresh ginger as well. These squares were crunchier than the crumble bars, and the glaze was rich and buttery and fragrant with ginger. Both of these cookie squares are classics for a reason. They're easy to bake and to serve, and I know I'll be making them both again.

Blueberry Crumble Tart

I always bring a few snacks to an annual Oscars party we attend, and for last Sunday’s party, I wanted to sort of work with a theme. I was certain it was going to be an Avatar-dominated Oscars so I was thinking ‘blue.’ I couldn’t have been more wrong, and obviously, I didn’t do so well with my Oscars betting this year, but at least this blueberry crumble tart was tasty. The recipe is from The Modern Baker, where it’s called a blueberry crumble pie. I wanted the cut pieces to be a simple, square form that would be easy to pick up at the party, so I baked it in a rectangular tart pan. I was also a little worried about how runny and gooey the filling would be, and to make it firmer and easier to handle, I used a little extra cornstarch. That part of my plan came together well. The pieces were easy to cut and easy to pick up without the filling running all over the place. At least that prediction worked out for me.

The tart crust was made from the sweet tart dough recipe in the same book. That dough includes an egg, an egg yolk, and baking powder in addition to the butter, flour, and sugar. It was mixed in a food processor and then wrapped in plastic and left to rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes or so. It was more dough than I needed for my rectangular tart pan, so I also made a small, free-form rustic tart to leave at home. The filling was made with frozen blueberries, sugar, a tablespoon more of cornstarch than the four tablespoon suggested, and nutmeg. After cooking and thickening, cold butter was stirred into the blueberry filling mixture. The ample crumb topping was made by combining flour, baking powder, cinnamon, brown sugar, and melted butter. Once folded together, it was left to sit while prepping the tart shell and filling. Often it’s tempting to double the quantity of a crumb topping, but I can tell you this recipe made plenty and doubling it would have been way too much. Once the filling was spooned into the shell and the crumble topping was sprinkled on top, the assembled tart baked for 40 minutes.

The crust was flaky and golden and lovely, and the filling was just firm enough and full of blueberry goodness, but the crumble topping was my favorite part. Those nuggets of buttery, crunchy, fun were a delight on top of the tart. It could have been almost any fruit in the filling because in the end, the blueness of it didn’t matter at all, but I’m glad that concept led me to this tart anyway.

Apple Cranberry Crumble

The fall meal from the ‘What’s for Dinner’ recipe cards concluded with apple cranberry crumble for dessert. While making the crumble, I realized this might be the most forgiving dessert there is. You place fruit in a baking dish and top it with a crumbly, buttery mixture. You can use a combination of fruits as was done here or you can use all of one kind. You can use a little more or a little less, and you can peel or not peel, slice or chop, mix and match as you wish. Then, the topping quantity is really just a suggestion. If you like a lot of crumble topping, you can increase the total amount and mound it over the fruit. If you prefer the dessert to be more fruit-focused, cut back on the crumble quantity for little bits of buttery crunch. It’s really all up to you, and I like that about a crumble.

For this one, I used three gala apples, I left the peels on, and I sliced them. One half cup of fresh cranberries was suggested, but I used a little more than that. The fruit was tossed with sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt and was placed in a buttered baking dish. The crumble topping was made with butter, flour, oats, chopped pecans, and light-brown sugar. I went with the suggest quantities but added just a few extra pecans. The topping was sprinkled over the fruit, and the dish baked until golden for about 30 minutes. Not only is this dessert forgiving, baking this is one of the easiest ways to make your house smell amazing.

I like that the apple slices have a little more texture when the peel is left intact. And, I really like the tartness of the cranberries studded throughout the dessert. Of course, the crumble topping is what makes it what it is, and the mix of oats and chopped pecans with the cinnamon-spiced fruit is always a natural fit. Next time I might use a colorful combination of red apples and granny smiths, and I might increase the amount of cranberries even more. It’s so easy and foolproof, it makes a perfect, quick dessert for a fall meal.