Peach Crumble
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!
Crumble vs. Crisp vs. Cobbler?
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.
How to Make the Crumble topping?
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!
How Do I Cut in Butter?
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.
Instructions
- Start with Cold Butter: Use butter that is cold and straight from the refrigerator. Cold butter creates pockets of fat in the dough as it melts during baking, resulting in a tender and flaky texture.
- Cube the Butter: Cut the cold butter into small cubes about 1/2 inch in size. Consequently, this makes it easier to incorporate into the dry ingredients.
- Combine with Dry Ingredients: In a mixing bowl, combine the cubed butter with your flour and sugar. Use a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingertips to work the butter into the dry ingredients.
- Pastry Blender Method: use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. By holding it in one hand and using it to cut through the butter and flour mixture, the butter will be evenly distributed, and the mixture will resemble coarse crumbs.
- Two Knives Method: Alternatively, you can use two knives to cut the butter into the dry ingredients. Hold a knife in each hand and use a slicing motion to cut the butter into the flour till it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Fingertips Method: you can also use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour mixture. Rub the butter and flour between your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Stop When Crumbly: Continue cutting in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pea-sized pieces of butter are remaining. Be careful not to overmix, as you want to maintain small pockets of butter in the dough for a flaky texture.
How to Make the Peach Crumble Filling?
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.
Can I use Fresh or Frozen Peaches?
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.
How Do I Remove the Skin From my Fresh Peaches?
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.
- Boil a pot of water, then insert your peaches for 30 seconds.
- Remove and transfer your peaches to an ice bath. The skins should then easily slide off and now the peaches are ready to be sliced.
- Slice your peaches evenly as this allows for a more even baking of the 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.
Ingredients
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.
Tips
- Vanilla extract is optional for the peach filling so if you have run out, it is fine not to put any in.
- Serve with fresh cream for a creamy taste.
Peach Crumble
Ingredients
Peach Filling
- 2 cans of peaches, strained (without juice 250g/can)
- 2 tbsp. corn starch, cornflour
- 1 ½ tsp. lemon juice
- 1/8 c. sugar, granulated
- Pinch of Salt
- Drop of vanilla extract
Crumble Topping
- ½ c. butter, cold and cubed
- ¾ c. all-purpose flour plain flour
- 2/3 c. sugar, granulated
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375℉/190℃/Gas Mark 5.
- Strain your canned peaches.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix together strained peaches, corn starch, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract.
- Pour peach filling into a greased square baking pan.
- For the crumble topping, mix the flour and the sugar together. Then cube your butter and cut it into the flour and sugar.
- Once fully mixed in, and the topping looks like crumbs, sprinkle overtop of peach filling.
- Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and serve with fresh cream!