Tuesday, August 16, 2011

TWD - Tropical Crumble



 Do you sometimes like to dream that you are drifting away on calm seas on a luxury yacht, stretched out on a banana lounge, shading umbrella overhead, with a tall cool glass of something soothing, while the sun shines in the blue sky?  Me too, especially in winter.

This week's Tuesday with Dorie helped me to dream of a tropical paradise.  It was Tropical Crumble, and it was my pick - so exciting! 

This crumble was non-traditional in that the crumble was quite buttery and soft, punctuated only by chopped nuts.  When someone says "crumble", I usually think of a crisp, crunchy topping.  However, that didn't stop me from liking this dessert - beneath that topping lurked caramelised bananas and mango, and in my case, it was atop a pastry base so that I could serve it like a slice.  It was very tasty!



To make your own Tropical Crumble, you will need:

Filling:

1/4 stick (4 tablespoons/55g) unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 firm, ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
(I used drained, canned mango)
4 firm, ripe bananas, cut into 1/2 slices on the diagonal
1 teaspoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
 grated zest of 1/4 lime (I used lemon zest)

Crumble:

1 stick (8 tablespoons/115g) unsalted, room temperature butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plain (all purpose) flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the filling:

Melt the butter in a frypan over high heat.  Sprinkle the sugar over the butter, and once it bubbles, add the mango cubes and cook for 2 minutes without stirring.  Flip the mango cubes over with a spatula, then add the banana to the pan and cook for a further 3 minutes, turning the banana half way through so that the fruit becomes browned on all sides, but does not lose its shape.

Turn the cooked fruit out into a heat proof bowl.  Stir in the fresh and ground ginger and the citrus zest.  Set aside.

For the crumble:

Put the butter into a food processor and process until smooth.  Add the brown sugar and salt, and process until smooth.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the flour and pecans with a rubber spatula.  Spread the mixture out over a piece of parchment or wax paper, and freeze for 20 minutes.

To assemble and bake:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees Celsius.

Butter a 9" pie pan and place it on a baking sheet.  (I buttered an 11" x 7" slice tray and lined it with shortcrust pastry before placing on the baking sheet.)

Spoon the fruit with its liquid into  the pie pan (or over the pastry crust).  Remove the crumble from the freezer, and break it into topping-size, irregular pieces, and scatter these over the top of the fruit.  Put the fruit crumble into the oven and immediately lower the temperature to 350 degrees F/180 degrees Celsius.  Bake the crumble for 35 minutes or until it is golden on top and the fruit is bubbling.  Place the crumble in its pan on a wire rack to cool.

Serve warm or at room temperature - I recommend with a big dollop of vanilla icecream.
Hope you enjoyed this week's TWD recipe.  To see how the other TWD bakers fared with this crumble, visit the LYL section of the TWD website for this week.

26 comments:

Unknown said...

This looks really delicious - I didn't expect slices! Thanks for a fun pick this week. I played around with mine (a lot) and loved it.

Chaya said...

Is that how it is supposed to look? I halved it but had nothing to bake it in so I used a pie tin and of course, I did not have enough fruit to fill the plate so it ended up different but we loved it. The cooked fruit was delicious and I probably ate a lot of it before, it ever got to the baking pan, which is another reason, I did not have enough fruit.

Thanks for picking this one. I plan to make it again but this time, full size.

Gloria Baker said...

Look deliicous Cakelaw! gloria

Pamela said...

Looks lovely! I didn't bake along this week due to time constraints. But it does look fabulous.

Anonymous said...

I like your slice version! My favorite part was the banana and mango right after it was cooked. It would have been great on ice cream. Thanks for hosting this week!

Johanna GGG said...

in the summer time de-de de-de de-de dee

yep I am on that tropical island with the warm breeze in my hair singing that song - yummy slice - maybe it brought out today's sunshine

Judy said...

This was an interesting dessert with the mangoes and cooked bananas. Thanks for a delicious choice.

Anonymous said...

What a great pick! It sounds perfect for a tropical island getaway dessert!

The Blonde Duck said...

That's a great idea!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

I love crumble topping! It's my favourite part of crumble really! :D

Valerie Gamine said...

Great pick! I didn't use anything fun and exotic in mine, but it was still delicious.

Yours looks absolutely scrumptious!

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Very nice pick, Gaye! Love your version and it's pastry base - how elegant! :)

Nancy/n.o.e said...

My creation diverged quite a bit - both intentionally and unintentionally - from Dorie's recipe. I'm glad to see how the banana mango version (plus pastry) looks and hope to try it that way in the future! Thanks for the fun pick this week.

Lauren Hairston said...

I guess I'm just strange (no surprise!), but I usually wish it were autumn or winter weather! I love the cold! However, that does not mean I don't appreciate lovely warm weather, especially if accompanied by something as yummy-sounding as Tropical Crumble.

Amber Marie said...

Thanks for the pick this week! I love an excuse to get mangoes!

Jaime said...

I wasn't sure if I would like mangoes with bananas but I LOVED this one! thanks for hosting!

Lynne Daley said...

Your crumble looks so very tropical and delicious, Superb pick!

Mary said...

wonderful pick. I really enjoy your blog....enjoy your week!

Nicole said...

Mine would have been too wet for slices but yours look great! I used pineapple instead of bananas and I loved this. Thinks for picking such a great recipe.

margot said...

Great selection, I really enjoyed this! Having a pastry layer is a fun idea. I will definitely bookmark this recipe to make again in the winter when local fruit is sparse.

steph- whisk/spoon said...

what a good idea to make this a slice! thanks for the pick this week!

Cindy said...

This looks delicious. I had my granddaughter all weekend and we did activities like swimming, coloring and the zoo. Not much cooking. I'll try it soon.

blackbookkitchendiaries said...

Nicely done:) i love this post. got it bookmarked now. thank you for sharing this.

The Blonde Duck said...

Have a good week!

Barbara Bakes said...

The fruit filling sounds especially fabulous.

Hazel - Chicken in a Cherry Sauce said...

Caramelised mango and banana sounds just divine and totally tropical! I love that these are slices rather than the normal, wetter, crumbles.