Well, I think it is. A slightly healthier take but no less indulgent. Vegan and gluten free too, so jump in.
In this recipe I stew the plums a little with some gorgeous spices before popping them into the dish ready for the crumble topping. This allows the spicy flavours infuse. I used a couple of star anise in a muslin bag, Madagascan vanilla pod and cinnamon, and I also added the zest of half an orange. It’s sweetened gently with coconut sugar. Coconut sugar has a lovely treacly depth of flavour, perfect for plums.
The topping is delicious. If you like your crumble crunchy, then this is for you. It is similar to my granola recipe and the trick is to bake it off a little first to get it nice and crunchy.
Ingredients
- 15-20 Good size plums
- 1 Vanilla Pod
- 3 Star Anise (in a little muslin bag)
- 2 Tsp Cinnamon
- 2-3 Tbsp Coconut Sugar
- For the topping:
- 200g large rough oats
- 100g Pecans - smashed
- 100g Walnuts - smashed
- 50g Pistachios
- 50g Pumpkin seeds.
- 50g Coconut oil
- 3 Tbsp maple Syrup
- Pinch of allspice
Instructions
Put the oven on to a 170c fan to heat up.
Wash, half and stone your plums.
Pop them in a large saucepan with the vanilla seeds (stripped from the pod), cinnamon, star anise, coconut sugar - if you don't have vanilla pod, just use a good quality extract. Stir it all in well to coat the fruit and put the pan on a low to med heat. Cook for about 10 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, melt the coconut oil in a pan, add the allspice and the maple and mix in well. Place your oats and nuts in another bowl, mix them all up and then add the melted coconut oil mixture, stirring it all in well to coat it. The trick to this recipe and getting a lovely crunchy topping is to place this mixture on a baking tray and pop it in the oven for 10 mins, moving it around occasionally to bake and crisp.
When your plums have stewed for 10 minutes or so, lift them out and pop them in your oven proof dish ready to be topped.
Once the topping has been in for about 10 minutes, take it out, test it for crunch (you want it just turning, not over baked otherwise it will burn when you put it back in). When you are ready, distribute the lovely baked topping onto the plum mixture and put it back in the oven for 15-20 mins to warm through. Enjoy!
Liked this? Try my extra special gluten-free apple and ginger crumble recipe.
