Hazelnut Crumble Topping with stone fruit filling

Hazelnut crumble topping generously sprinkled over a bed of sweet juicy greengages then baked till golden brown served with Ice cream and lashings of cream. This is a perfect intimate dinner party dessert when greengages are in season.

Greengages are often a forgotten stone fruit, but they're so tasty and work amazingly well in this hazelnut crumble. It is lower in sugar than other crumble recipes like strawberry or apple crumble because the nuts give it some natural sweetness, and you use less butter, too, due to their healthy fat content. The toasted hazelnuts give it this delicious flavor, and we sprinkle a pinch of cinnamon over the top to give the dessert some subtle warmth.

Jump to:

• Why you should make this dessert for a dinner party
• Ingredients
• How to make Hazelnut crumble topping with stone fruit filling
• Plating suggestions
• Wine pairing
• Substitutions and Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top tip
• FAQ
• Other dessert recipes
• Recipe Card

Why you should make this dessert for a dinner party

A stone fruit crumble is a great sharing dessert, one to pop in the oven whilst everyone is eating their main course and bring out still warm and ready to be devoured. I am a huge, huge fan of anything that mixes different temperatures and textures, so warm with cold, crunchy with smooth. And these greengages with Hazelnut crumble topping tick all those boxes with a crunchy nut crumble topping and hot cooked fruit underneath paired with scoops of vanilla ice cream (and lashings of cream, too, of course).

You can make the hazelnut crumble topping mixture in advance so if you're looking for easy dinner party desserts, this is a good one. Make the crumble topping whilst toasting hazelnuts, mix it all together, and put it in a zip lock bag in the fridge to store until you want to assemble, bake and eat.

I love fruit crumble in colder weather, so this is a perfect dessert for autumn and winter. You can make it with any stone fruit, so try plums or apricots instead if you can't find greengages.

I made this dessert on my mother's birthday when I designed a whole menu, so if you're looking to create a special occasion too, we enjoyed it after this salmon en croute.

Ingredients

1. Whole meal / whole wheat flour: We are making hazelnut crumble without oats; hence I decided to use whole meal flour to make up for the bit of rough texture of oat. You may use all purpose flour if you like.
2. Hazelnuts: I mixed the crushed hazelnuts into the crumble mix to add a nutty flavor and get a crunchier stone fruit crumble.
3. Butter: Bring your unsalted butter to room temperature so that it doesn't hold up the flour into extremely big crumbs, especially if you will be using your hands.
4. Golden caster sugar is widely available in the UK but not so much in other countries. It has a finer texture compared to granulated sugar, but you can use the likes of fine brown sugar or even coconut sugar for similar results.
5. Greenages: This stone fruit is a little tart when it isn't fully ripe yet, but they get sweeter as they ripen. Depending on which ones you find, you may want to add a little bit more sugar to balance the tartness of this fruit.
6. Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon for that sweet, warm flavor.

See the recipe card for full quantities and directions.

How to make Hazelnut crumble topping with stone fruit filling

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / 375 F.
2. Remove the stones from the greengages by slicing them in half along the natural seam/indentation you'll see on their skin. Then, using a sharp knife, carefully cut around the stone to get it out. Don't worry too much about them looking neat...they are all going to cook into a pile of warm, sticky fruity mess under your crumble anyway.
3. Place them in the bottom of a buttered ovenproof dish, skin side down.
4. Make the nut crumble topping by first toasting hazelnuts on a shallow tray in the oven for 10 minutes. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes, and then remove the skin from the hazelnuts.
5. On a chopping board, use a knife to roughly chop the hazelnuts. I like a crunchy, chunky nut crumble, so I leave mine pretty big, but this is up to you.
6. Now make your hazelnut crumble topping by blending the butter and the flour together in a large bowl or food processor and then slowly adding the sugar. Don't blend it for too long, as we don't want to overwork it.
7. Mix in the nuts and spread over the top of the greengages. Sprinkle over some cinnamon and a bit of extra sugar, and bake for 30 minutes. You'll know it's done when the greengages are bubbling up through the crumble at the sides, and the nut crumble is a light warm brown on the top.
8. Serve with vanilla ice cream and lashings of cream.

Hint: The fruit crumble will be very, very hot when it is just out of the oven, so give it five minutes before eating to avoid scalding your guests.

How to peel hazelnuts

Here's my top tip for peeling hazelnuts! Wash and dry your hands but leave them slightly damp. Now take the hazelnuts in your hands and rub them around, the skins will stick to your hands and come straight off! Easy.

Plating suggestions

Fruit crumble is hard to plate in a pretty way...so console yourself with the fact that a bowl or plate filled with warm fruit crumble and smothered in cream will look good to anyone and, more importantly, taste amazing.

Wine pairing

A chilled glass of Sauterne will be a deliciously sweet dessert wine to serve with greengage crumble. Port also compliments hazelnuts and would pair well, as would Ice Wine or Vin Santo.

Substitutions and Variations

Here are a few ways you can change up this hazelnut crumble recipe to suit you.

1. Fruit - instead of greengages you could try this with plums or apricots.
2. Nuts - Not a hazelnut fan? Why not experiment with other nuts like pecans.
3. Gluten-free - Use gluten free flour to make this dish suit you if you are intolerant.

Equipment

I make my crumble in a food processor as it blends the flour and butter together really well, but you can do it in a mixing bowl and use your fingers instead if you prefer.

For this quantity, I used an ovenproof dish roughly 35cm x 25cm or 14in x 10in dish

Storage

You can make the greengage and hazelnut crumble topping in advance and store it in a zip lock bag in the fridge for 2-3 days before assembling. It is better to do it this way than assemble the whole crumble and store it before baking, as it can go soggy. Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheated.

You can freeze any leftovers too!

Top tip

Use good quality European-style butter (preferably grass-fed and organic if you can) with a high-fat content of at least 80%.

FAQ

Other dessert recipes

Recipe Card