Summer Meets Winter Not So Humble Crumble

We had friends staying with us over the weekend which is always a welcome treat, and as has become a custom for first timers to our area, we visited our new favourite local restaurant The Fish Shop. It's a bustling, fresh and fun place to eat - a welcome addition to our local dining scene. The Fish Shop has only been open about 8 weeks and is already a favourite amongst the locals, and is fast becoming the place to go.

As described in Gourmet Traveller last month "the Fish Shop is about seafood made fun and accessible via a mash-up of Aussie milk-bar and British chippy tropes, with a dash of Americana to season it".

Our waiter invited us to drink champagne which just happened to be at a bargain price for a licensed restaurant, almost the same as at the bottle-o, so we were compelled to partake (well why not) and it was the perfect accompaniment for our seafood delights. We shared the cuttlefish with garlic chilli and parsely - one of the simplest dishes on the menu but cooked so perfectly, and it's at your table in a matter of minutes of ordering it. Our mains were simple - two of us had the fish, bacon and chilli burgers and the other two fish and chips. Simple!

Champagne and fish & chips at The Fish Shop

I really can't do photos of fish and chips justice with my iphone, particularly in the dark and after a couple of glasses of bubbly, so do take a look at their website and the next time your in Sydney make a trip to The Fish Shop, you won't be disappointed. Gotta love the '60s champagne glasses too!

Sunday night we'd been invited for roast dinner at one of our neighbours so I said I'd make dessert (well, pudding!). I had it in my mind to make a crumble, I had some fresh grannies in the fridge that would be perfect. I'd also made some mandarin caramel on Saturday morning to have with our French toast, prosciutto and strawberries breakfast (another story, was very yum!) so thought I could figure this into the crumble somehow.

I ended up making an apple and mixed berry crumble with cinnamon, mandarin caramel glaze - and it was pretty amazing, and the perfect finish to the stunning meal of crown roast of lamb. So I thought I'd share this with those of us who love a good apple crumble - try a few little additions and turn it into something even more special.

I used Granny Smith apples, I prefer these because they hold their shape really well when cooked and have a sweet, tart flavour.

Granny Smith Apples peeled, cored and sliced

I used the mandarin caramel that I'd made earlier and just warmed this through with some cinnamon. Dry caramel is easy to make, you just add a thin layer of sugar to a fry pan and when it starts to melt and turn golden you add another layer, and you keep doing this until you've got the right amount of caramel and the colour you want.

Mandarin, Cinnamon Caramel (what was left of it)

I stirred this through the apples and popped the lot into my baking dish thinking that I was just going to put the crumble on top ... but then I thought maybe I didn't quite have enough fruit and that once the apples had cooked they'd be reduced by half and there wouldn't be enough dessert for everyone.

Apples with Cinnamon, Mandarin Caramel Glaze

So, I added some frozen mixed berries which I always have in the freezer. I had no idea whether this would work - I could only think I've got winter on the bottom and summer on top of that and then I'm going to top it off again with a winter crumble. Oh well, too late now!

Berries and Apple, don't they look great!

The crumble is just a made up version and I pretty much stick to the same ingredients all the time. I use rolled oats, almond meal, coconut, a little flour, sugar and butter. This time I added the zest from two large mandarins (phoenix variety) which added quite a different dimension to the flavour.

Mandarin and Coconut Crumble

The final dish was perfect, it took about an hour to bake at around 160 C (fan bake).

The finished Not So Humble Crumble

I love to make my own ice cream but there was no way I was going to get time to do that over the weekend, so popped up the shop and grabbed some vanilla bean ice cream.

Here's my final dish on the plate - it tasted really amazing - apple, citrus, berry and spice. To turn it from the humble crumble into something quite special didn't add any time at all - it's just a matter of thinking outside the square and seeing what's handy and what's in season. Recipe below.

My "Summer Meets Winter Not So Humble Crumble"

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Summer Meets Winter Not So Humble Crumble

Mandarin, Cinnamon Caramel

1/2 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup mandarin juice
40g unsalted butter

Fruit Base

6 large granny smith apples peeled, cored and sliced
1/2 cup mandarin and cinnamon caramel
1 packet frozen mixed berries

Crumble

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup plain or wholemeal flour
75g butter chopped into small cubes (more or less it's up to you)
zest of 3-4 mandarins
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 160 deg C. (Using fan bake)

Caramel: Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar into a non-stick frying pan and cook over a medium heat until the sugar starts to melt and change colour. Agitate the pan to mix the sugar until all melted. Add another layer of sugar and repeat process until all sugar is used and has caramelised. Take off the pan and immediately add the juice and butter, stirring continuously and being careful as the caramel will splash and splutter with the addition of the cold juice.


Fruit Base: Add peeled, cored and sliced apples to a large bowl. Cover with warm, spiced caramel and mix together until well glazed. Pour apple mixture into a large baking dish and spread evenly. Add the frozen mixed berries over the top of the apples ensuring these are also evenly spread.

Crumble: Place all ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Rub butter into mixture until it resembles a crumb and there is no butter pieces visible. Taste to ensure that you have the right amount of sugar - you will need just enough to carry the tartness of the apples and not be over powering. Spread the crumble over the fruit base being sure to let this "settle" naturally on the fruit and not pressing it. Bake for 50-60 minutes in a moderate oven.

Bon Appetite!