buckwheat

Buckwheat Plum Berry Crumble

Posted on by Ruth

This post is sponsored by Weight Watchers Canada. Find out more about the WW Freestyle program, which encourages the freedom to eat the foods you love while nudging you towards healthier choices using the SmartPoints system. As always, all ideas and opinions expressed here are my own.

I love a good rustic fruit dessert. Galettes, crisps, crumbles, pies — yes, please and thank you, to all of them. Homey and unfussy, they’re the kind of thing you want on a summer evening after a casual cookout with good people — a la mode, of course.

If you’ve been around these parts long, you probably know I like incorporating whole grains into baked goods when I can — not just for added health benefits but also for flavor! The nutty, toasty tones of whole grains pair especially well with fruit and give simple crumbles such as this one extra depth. In this plum berry crumble I’ve used buckwheat and oats; but you could easily substitute spelt, kamut, rye, or whole wheat if that’s what you have on hand. If whole grains aren’t your thing you can use all AP, but I encourage you to try some new flours if you have the opportunity! It really opens up a whole new world of flavors.

This crumble is very adaptable — substitute whatever fresh summer fruit you have on hand. You can also make the topping ahead of time and store it in the fridge or freezer — a great thing to have on hand for impromptu BBQs. And this is quite wonderful cold from the fridge with a bit of yogurt, should you want this to double as breakfast. (I always do.)

crumble a la mode

Buckwheat Plum Berry Crumble

Serves 9

Ingredients

For the buckwheat crumble:

  • 40g buckwheat flour
  • 80g AP flour
  • 30g rolled oats
  • 40g walnuts, chopped
  • 50g light brown sugar
  • 25g turbinado sugar
  • 1.5 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 100g cubed, unsalted butter, room temperature

For the plum berry filling:

  • 3 c plums, chopped
  • 3 c mixed berries, chopped if large
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 2-3 Tbsp arrowroot starch (Use 3 if your fruit is particularly juicy or if you have a large proportion of strawberries)
  • 50g granulated sugar (or to taste)
  • A few turns of black pepper
  • Pinch of salt

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F and lightly grease an 8×8 pan or 9-inch pie plate.
  2. First, make the crumble. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Add the cubed butter and, using your fingers, rub it into the dry ingredients until crumbs form. The crumbs shouldn’t be uniform in size — a variety of large and small pieces are good to have. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling (topping can be refrigerated for several days, or frozen for longer storage).
  3. Combine the fruit in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and stir gently to combine. Whisk together the remaining ingredients, pour over the fruit, and stir gently to combine. Scrape filling into prepared pan.
  4. Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the fruit, squeezing some of it together to form larger pieces so you have a nice variety of crumb sizes.
  5. Bake until the filling is bubbling, 35-45 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.