COOKING: 12 JANUARY 2017 By ROBERTA MUIR

Nectarine crumble

I think fruit crumble may be the world’s easiest dessert … and one of the yummiest! The only trick to making a great crumble topping is that the butter has to be cold.

You can use this crumble topping with any fruit (even canned or bottled in a pinch), but I particularly like it with the stone fruits that are so abundant and delicious at this time of year.

Nectarines are especially quick as they don’t need to be peeled — and their red skin looks beautiful, especially if you use a mixture of yellow and white-fleshed fruit for contrast.

INGREDIENTS

Serves six:

6 nectarines
1.5 cups plain flour
0.5 cups brown sugar
125g cold butter, cubed
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.

2. Chop nectarines and place in oven-proof bowls or ramekins.

3. Place flour, sugar and butter in a bowl and rub together with your fingers until it crumbles, squeezing the mixture a little so some of it clumps together.

4. Crumble the mixture over the nectarine and bake for 25-30 minutes until crunchy and golden.

5. Serve hot or warm with ice cream.