Plum and Prune Crumble

Nechama Rivlin

1 hour and 15 minutes + 1 hour inactive

10-inch / 26-cm round baking pan

Plum crumble in an oval-shaped baking dish atop a green and red tablecloth

Photography: Dan Peretz, Styling: Nurit Kariv

Photography: Dan Peretz, Styling: Nurit Kariv

Seasonal fruit baked with a crunchy crumb topping is the perfect dessert — particularly for new bakers and those short on time. Nechama Rivlin’s crumble uses fresh and dried fruit. Its rich undercurrent comes from the added liquor, a hallmark of many of her dessert recipes.

At the end of the soaking process, a little wine will remain. You can filter it, or not, and add it to the baking tin. The plums will release their juices as they bake, so it’s best not to use a springform pan for this recipe. You can replace the plums with another seasonal fruit, like nectarine.

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Ingredients

  • ½ cup / 120 ml water
  • ½ cup / 120 ml red wine
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 20 pitted prunes, halved
  • For the crumble:
  • 1 cup / 140 grams flour
  • ⅓ cup / 50 grams semolina flour
  • ¾ cup / 150 grams sugar
  • 1 ⅓ sticks / 150 grams butter, cold and cut into cubes
  • For assembly:
  • 1 ½ tablespoons / 20 grams butter for greasing
  • 10-15 dark plums (like the type Prunus Domestica or European Plum), pitted and halved
  • 1-2 tablespoons sugar
  • 3.5 ounces / 100 grams walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preparation

  1. Place the water, wine, cinnamon, and sugar into a small pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat, add the prunes and set the mixture aside for 1 hour. Strain the prunes, reserve both the prunes and the liquids separately. 
  2. Prepare the crumble: Preheat the oven to 340°F / 170°C. Place all the ingredients for the crumble into a bowl and mix the ingredients together with your hands until a sandy mixture with small crumbs is formed. Transfer the crumble onto a parchment paper-lined tray or wide pan. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the dish.
  3. Assemble the crumble and bake: Grease a 10-inch / 26-cm round cake pan with the remaining butter. Place the fresh plums into the pan with the cut side down. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the plums. Add the prunes (with or without their cooking liquids, depending how moist you want it to be) and sprinkle the walnuts evenly on top. Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the walnuts and fruit. Transfer the baking pan into the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the crumble is browned. Transfer from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Serve the crumble with a slide of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

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