Fruit crumble

I love making crumbles. They're so simple -- way easier than pie -- and at this point I don't really work from a recipe. I just mix, taste, sense. So I'll try to explain the basic idea and you can hopefully work from there.

Step 1. Preheat your oven to 375F and get your baking dish. You can use a pie plate, a glass baking dish, a ceramic baking dish, or even a cereal bowl if it's oven-safe. The one in the picture above is a ceramic mini loaf pan (I think I got it at a craft store for a few dollars). I often use cereal bowls because I want to make just enough for two adults and a kid.

Step 2. Cut up your fruit into bite-sized pieces. The above is a mix of defrosted (formerly frozen) blueberries and fresh strawberries, cut up and mixed. I defrosted the blueberries in the pan so that the juices would stay in it. Cut enough fruit so that the pan is most of the way full but there's maybe 1/2" clearance on top for the topping.

Step 3. Mix some sugar, flour and spices into the fruit. Usually a couple tablespoons of flour is enough for an 8x8" pan of fruit; I used a scant tablespoon for the one above. (Gluten-free flour blends work fine.) Sprinkle a few tablespoons of sugar (again, assuming 8x8" -- use more if your pan is bigger, less if it's smaller), plus a teaspoon of cinnamon and whatever other spices you like: nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, allspice... whatever you have on hand and goes well with the fruit. Mix everything together so the fruit is coated with the sugar, flour and spices. Taste your spoon and see what you think. If it's not enough sugar or spice, add more. If your fruit isn't super-rich tasting, add a spoonful or so of jam and mix it in thoroughly. Apricot jam is good for peaches, berry jams are good with berries. You get the idea.

Step 4. Get a separate bowl for the topping. Scoop some flour in, say 1/2 cup for 8x8". Then add an equal amount of brown sugar. Add some nuts, broken up into small pieces, enough that you'll get a couple in each bite. Or use a handful of oats if you don't like nuts. Add more spices, whatever you used with the fruit. Cut some butter into small pieces and add it to the bowl, starting with a few tablespoons. Now squish everything together with your hands until the butter is well mixed in -- if you don't have enough for the topping to start to stick together, add a little more butter. It should squish but not quite hold together.

Step 5. Pour the topping onto the fruit, and smooth it out until it forms an even layer over the fruit. It's okay if it doesn't cover everything, and it's okay if it's on the thicker side. It all works. Just try to spread it out somewhat evenly.

Step 6. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and put your crumble pan on top of the foil (it's likely to bubble over, and bubbled-over fruit can make your kitchen smoky in a hurry). Pop it in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes and then check it. If the fruit is bubbling up around the edges of the topping and the topping is golden brown, it's done. If not, keep checking it every 5 minutes or so until it's done.