The evening before my last grocery shopping trip, I was paging through the latest issue of Cooking Light when, on the final page before the back cover, I spotted a luscious looking recipe for Rainier Cherry Crumble. I just had to make it! However, Rainier cherries grow in the Pacific Northwest (about as far from Boston as you can get in the mainland US) and have a notoriously short growing season. I closed the magazine and thought about making a mixed berry crumble because I surely wouldn’t be finding any Rainier cherries around here.
Well, the food gods must’ve been smiling on me the next day because I immediately spotted a display of Rainier cherries as I entered the produce section of the supermarket. I would be making a Rainier Cherry Crumble after all!
Even if you’re not as lucky as I was and are unable to find Rainier cherries in your area, you can replace them with their tarter brethren, Bing cherries. If you use Bing cherries, you’ll most likely have to add a little sugar to sweeten them to your liking.
The only complaint that I have about this crumble is the topping, which was of my own doing. It could’ve been that this was one of those recipes where one can’t just replace wheat flour 1:1 for a gluten free blend, or it could’ve been my propensity for overmixing crumble toppings, but my version of the topping was much less crumbly than I would’ve liked. Either way, I’m still on the lookout for the perfect gluten free crumble topping (I have one in mind and will be trying it out soon). The crumble was still quite tasty, especially with the addition of slivered almonds, and the topping was more of a texture issue for me than anything else. The filling, on the other hand, was great!
adapted from Rainier Cherry Crumble, Cooking Light, July 2009
makes 8 individual crumbles
Ingredients
FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING
1 cup gluten free flour blend (the blend I use can be found in this recipe)
1 cup xylitol (or brown sugar, if you’re not sugar free)
1/8 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
FOR THE FILLING
3 lbs. Rainier cherries, pitted
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
a pinch of salt
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place 8 6 oz. ramekins on a large baking sheet, or ready a 9 x 9 inch cooking dish.
2. For the crumble topping: In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, xylitol, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until all ingredients are blended, and add cubed butter. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture has a coarse, sandy texture. Add the slivered almonds and lightly mix until evenly distributed. Place crumble mixture in the refrigerator to chill while you make the filling.
3. For the filling: In a medium bowl, combine pitted cherries, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt. Toss well to coat, and evenly distribute the cherries into the ramekins (or pour the entire mixture into a cooking dish).
4. Top the cherries with the crumble topping, and bake at 400 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is thick and bubbly and the topping has turned a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes. Serve warm.
Posted in Alternatively Sweetened, Desserts, Food, Gluten Free | 2 Comments »
Oh. My. Gosh. This looks so good and the food photography is beautiful. Well done K!
posted: July 22nd, 2009 at 6:09 pmAww, thank you, E! I’ve definitely become a big fan of Rainier cherries after making this. Yum!
posted: July 22nd, 2009 at 7:54 pm