Vegan, Gluten-Free Plum Crumble – Nice, But Not Too Naughty!

You may remember in my previous post I was asked what I ate if I couldn’t have anything ‘naughty’ (see here). Well, that day, our neighbour gave us some plums from his garden and as our teenage friend was coming to visit again the next day – this time with his dad and dad’s partner – we decided to make a huge plum crumble. If you read the earlier post, you’ll understand why it had to be huge: teenage boy/growing/neverstopseating!

Here’s the recipe: no refined sugar, just a little maple syrup and a lot of natural flavour! Unfortunately, we didn’t weigh the plums, there were enough to fill a supermarket ice-cream box.

The topping can also be used for an apple or any other fruit crumble.

Ingredients

(Organic where possible, all quantities are approximate)

Plums, washed, stoned and cut in half

Cinnamon to taste

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

A Few Tbsps of Apple Juice, but don’t drown them

Topping

4 oz Gluten-Free Oats – if you prefer a finer texture, grind the oats and buckwheat flakes into flour

2 oz Buckwheat Flakes

2 oz Almonds, finely ground

(You could replace the almonds with desiccated coconut for an alternative flavour)

Approx. 2 oz Raw Virgin Coconut Oil, gently melted over warm water

1-2 Tbsps Maple Syrup

If you want a little more sweetness, you could add a small handful of raisins, either to the plum base or to the crumble topping.

Method

Place the plums cut side up in an ovenproof dish

Add Apple Juice

Sprinkle with Cinnamon

Add Maple Syrup

To make the topping:

Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together

Stir in the coconut oil and maple syrup (and raisins if using)

Mix together well with a round-bladed knife and then through your fingers to create the crumble effect

Cover the plums

Place dish in oven at 170C for a Fan oven for about 40-45 minutes. Keep your eye on it, it needs to be golden, not dark brown!

Serve hot or cold with custard or plain yogurt, or Nana Rhys Cream with Mango, Cacao & Peanut Butter – the men had custard, I had CoYo plain coconut yogurt. I think it’s even better the next day when the crumble has soaked up some of plum juice.

Makes enough for about 6 or 7 servings.

Our teenage friend gave it the thumbs up and had his two servings as per normal!

Copyright: Chris McGowan