Nectarine, Pineapple and Coconut Crumble

One thing I love about one of my favorite desserts, a crumble, is that you don't have to follow every instruction from the recipe. The art of pastry is very very precise. If you don't measure everything to a tee and add, for instance, a teaspoon of salt too much or too little, your whole recipe fails. With cooking everything is much easier. You can go with the flow and add all you want. Come on, how many times have you added the wine you were drinking to your meat sauce?! (too many times)

The making of a crumble or crisp is sort of similar. You can add anything of your liking to the crumble topping; oats, raisins, almonds, etc. And the fruit filling leaves to your imagination as well; whatever fruit you've got on hand, brown sugar, vanilla sugar, etc. I turned a 'Raspberry, Nectarine and Mango crumble' into a 'Nectarine, Pineapple and Coconut crumble'. And the result was faboosh! Don't be afraid to make the recipe your own. Rating: 4 out of 5.



A 'crumbless' crumble.
Nectarines and pineapple chunks topped with shredded coconut.



Nectarine, Pineapple and Coconut Crumble: recipe from MarthaStewart.com, original recipe here.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of ground ginger
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup rolled oats
- 10 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 6 nectarines (about 1 ¾ pounds)
- 3 slices pineapple
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ⅓ cup shredded coconut
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or pineapple juice
- 2 pints vanilla ice cream (optional)

Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 1 cup flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and oats. Mix on low for 30 seconds, add butter, and mix until clumps form, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Peel and pit nectarines, and cut into 1-inch chunks; place in a large bowl. Cut pineapple into ½-inch chunks; add to the nectarines. Add cornstarch, granulated sugar, shredded coconut and lime or pineapple juice; toss gently to combine.
- Transfer fruit to a shallow 12-inch round gratin dish. Distribute topping evenly over fruit. Bake until topping is golden brown and juices bubble, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool slightly. Serve warm with ice cream.


Happy 4th of July!