What is the difference between a crisp and a crumble?

The difference is in the topping! Traditionally, a crumble topping is made of flour, butter and sugar (a simple streusel), whereas a crisp topping will also contain oats and sometimes nuts for a crispy texture when baked. The terms tend to be used interchangeably now though. This Plum Apple Crumble recipe has a butter streusel topping which aligns with the traditional crumble definition.

Can I substitute other fruit for the plums?

Sure! You could sub in berries, cherries or peaches for example.

What type of apples and plums to use?

Any type you like! I personally tend to use Honey Crisp, Gala, Pink Lady or Fuji apples and I love Italian plums and red plums but any type of plums will work.

Plum and Apple Crumble (with butter streusel)

Description

This Plum and Apple Crumble recipe is the perfect late-summer or fall dessert. Chopped up plums and apples are topped with the most delicious butter streusel in this easy-to-make comfort food recipe. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, custard or whipped cream and enjoy!

Ingredients

Scale

For the fruit mixture:

1 ½ pounds (680 grams) apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces (approx. 4 medium sized apples)
1 pound (454 grams) plums, pitted and cut into chunks
1/4 cup (50 grams) organic cane sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the streusel crumble topping:

250 grams (2 cups) unbleached all purpose flour
125 grams (1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons) organic cane sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
170 grams (3/4 cup or 1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Instructions

Preheat oven: Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C.
Prepare fruit mixture: In a large mixing bowl, gently stir together the fruit mixture ingredients and set aside.
Make the streusel crumble topping: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the softened butter and vanilla extract. Beat until it combines and forms large crumbles. Press together any smaller crumbs by hand to form bigger crumbs (you don’t want the topping to be too fine). Alternatively, make the streusel by hand (see notes for instruction).
Assemble: Pour the fruit mixture into a lightly greased 9-inch baking dish (or similar capacity) and spread out evenly. Then sprinkle the streusel (crumble mixture) evenly over the top.
Bake: Bake for 35-40 minutes or until fruit mixture is tender and bubbly and topping is lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Serve and enjoy: Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, custard, yogurt, vanilla sauce, whipped cream or simply enjoy all on its own!

Notes

Weight of fruit listed is when it is whole still.
Making streusel by hand: Instead of using a mixer, you can also make the topping by hand. Whisk together the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Drop in pieces of the softened butter and use your hands to press and pinch the butter into the flour mixture to form large crumbles.
Use a kitchen scale! I HIGHLY recommend using a kitchen scale to measure the dry ingredients in the streusel crumble topping in order to achieve the correct texture and consistent results every time (vs. the huge variation you can get filling measuring cups). I use this Escali kitchen scale but you can also find others on Amazon (some for under $10).
Large crumbs: This crumble topping is more of a German butter streusel. It’s cookie-like with bigger clumps. The crumble should not be fine. Press any small crumbs together with your fingers to form larger pieces. Note: Don’t stop the stand mixer too soon! At first it will look like a dry “sandy” mixture. Just keep on beating until it combines together to form large crumbs.