Peach crumble is a delicious and comforting dessert that highlights the juicy, sweet flavor of ripe peaches. The peaches are often tossed with sugar, lemon juice, and a touch of cinnamon, creating a warm, spiced filling as they bake. The crumbly topping, made from a mixture of flour, sugar, and cold butter, bakes into a golden, crispy layer that contrasts perfectly with the soft, bubbling fruit beneath. The combination of the sweet, tender peaches and the crunchy, buttery topping makes peach crumble an irresistible treat, especially when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Peach crumble is a delicious dessert to be served in the summertime, but with this peach crumble using canned peaches, it can be enjoyed all year around!
In this recipe, you will learn how to make a gorgeous peach crumble recipe!
What makes a peach crumble different than a peach cobbler or peach crisp? Glad you asked!
Crumble: a crumble is similar to a crisp but may not always include oats in the topping. The topping is made from a mixture of flour, sugar, and butter, resulting in a crumbly texture when baked. Crumbles tend to have a finer texture compared to crisps, with a buttery and sweet flavour.
Crisp: a crisp, features a fruit filling topped with a streusel-like (crumb topping) topping made from a mixture of flour, sugar, butter, and oats or nuts. The topping is crumbly and crisp when baked, with a texture similar to a granola or oatmeal cookie.
Cobbler: a cobbler typically features a fruit filling topped with a biscuit-like or cake-like topping. The topping is dropped or spooned over the fruit in small clumps, resembling cobblestones, hence the name “cobbler.” The texture of the topping is soft and cakey, similar to a scone or biscuit.
In some places a crisp and crumble can be used interchangeably for the same dessert. Just remember crumbles are normally consistent of butter, flour, and sugar in the topping. While a crisp will have those same ingredients but include oatmeal. And cobblers differ more from crumbles and crisps because a cobbler has either a batter or a biscuit-like dough.
The crumble topping is made up of flour, sugar, and butter. In a medium bowl, mix the flour and sugar together well. Then you will want to cut in the butter. The butter should be removed from the fridge right before you need it because it needs to be very cold. See below for how to cut in butter 3 different ways!
Cutting in butter is a technique that you can either do with a pastry cutter, two knives, or your hand and some elbow grease. Cutting in butter means to take cold butter and mix it with dry ingredients to create a crumbly texture. Here is how to cut in your butter.
This peach crumble recipe uses canned peaches. Strain your canned peach through a sieve and place them into a large mixing bowl. Add your other peach filling ingredients such as corn starch, vanilla extract, lemon juice, granulated sugar, and a pinch of salt. Make sure that you mix it together well so that the peached are coated. You can choose to let the peaches macerate but you can just bake straight away. Next, place the peach filling in a greased 9″x9″ dish and the crumble topping is ready to be sprinkled into it.
Yes, you can. Frozen peaches can be thawed and merely strain the excess liquid from them and add to the peach filling as a straight substitute for the canned peaches. Fresh peaches will need to be prepared. See the next heading on how to prepare fresh peaches for your peach crumble.
You will need to blanch your peaches to remove the skin from your peaches.
Blanching is the process of scalding your vegetables or fruit in boiling water for a very short amount of time and transferring them quickly to a very cold bowl of water or an ice bath. This allows the skin to fall off very easily.
These are the steps to blanch and prepare your peaches.
Using a free-stone peach makes slicing and cutting your peaches much easier as the pit of the peach will not stick to the flesh and make slicing difficult.
Canned Peaches: canned peaches are the main fruit component of this dessert. They provide sweetness, flavour, and moisture to the dish.
Corn Starch: corn starch is a thickening agent used to create a smooth and creamy texture in the dessert’s filling. It helps bind the liquid from the peaches and other ingredients, preventing it from being too runny.
Lemon Juice: lemon juice adds brightness and acidity to the dessert, enhancing the flavour of the peaches and balancing the sweetness of the sugar.
Sugar: sugar sweetens the dessert and enhances the natural sweetness of the peaches. It also helps to balance the tartness of the lemon juice and contributes to the overall flavour and texture of the peach crumble.
Pinch of Salt: a pinch of salt enhances the flavour of the dessert by balancing the sweetness and acidity of the other ingredients. It helps to bring out the natural flavours of the peaches and adds depth to the dish.
Vanilla Extract: vanilla extract adds warmth and depth of flavour to the dessert.
Butter: butter adds richness and creaminess to the dessert’s crumble topping. It helps to create a smooth texture and adds a buttery flavour that complements the sweetness of the peaches.
Flour: flour is used to make the crumble’s topping. It provides structure and helps to bind the ingredients together, creating a tender and flaky texture in the finished dish.