Blueberry Crumble

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There may be no better way to get your fill of fresh Maine blueberries when they’re in season. Maine dealers also sell them frozen, just let them thaw before beginning; we buy 10-20 lbs each August, so we can eat crumble all year long! Adapted from a recipe in Cooks Illustrated.

Filling ingredients

Serves 6-8 (although 4 of us once polished off the whole thing for dinner)

3 ½ pounds Maine blueberries
¼ to 1/3 cupwhite granulated or Turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 - 5 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Pinch table saltPinch ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
5 - 6 slices of butter

Topping ingredients

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup white granulated or Turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)
¼ cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces and very soft
¾ cup pecans or sliced almonds

 

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven racks to lower and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Gently toss all filling ingredients together in large bowl; let stand for at least 30 minutes, tossing several times.
  3. Meanwhile, combine flour, sugars, and salt in work-bowl of food processor; drizzle vanilla over top. Pulse to combine mixture, about five 1-second pulses.
  4. Add butter and half of nuts; process until mixture clumps together into large, crumbly balls, about 30 seconds, pausing halfway through to scrape down sides of work-bowl.
  5. Sprinkle remaining nuts over mixture and combine with two quick pulses, or until nuts are coarsely chopped.
  6. Transfer mixture to parchment-lined baking sheet and spread into even layer (mixture should break up into roughly 1/2-inch chunks with some smaller, loose bits). Bake on middle rack until chunks are lightly browned and firm, 16 to 18 minutes.
  7. Pour filling into a buttered baking dish.
  8. Break the topping up by hand, so the largest pieces are large chunks, and distribute evenly over the filling. Sprinkle a little additional sugar over top and place on lower oven rack. Increase oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake until well browned and fruit is bubbling around edges. Iftopping appears to be done but the fruit isn’t bubbling, cover with a piece of foil. Cool on wire rack until set and warm, at least 15 minutes; serve.

My husband says: You can use the topping recipe with whatever fruit filling you like – fresh peaches are great, as are apples with a little cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Just use sugar and spice to taste, being sure to keep these to a minimum so the taste of the fruit really comes through.  Blueberries get pretty soupy when cooked, so you probably will want to adjust the cornstarch downward with other fruits, as well.