A fumble, just in case you were wondering or being smutty, is a cross between a fool and a crumble. The best bits of two classic British desserts brought together to create something beautiful and simple to make. It is extremely versatile too. You can basically use whichever fruits are in season. Strawberries, apples, plums, mangoes, pears, rhubarb, gooseberries, you get the idea.
A fool is traditionally made with a fruit puree or compote stirred (or marbled) through whipped cream. I used goat’s yoghurt instead of cream, the sourness is fantastic with the sweet sticky fig compote. You could use Greek yoghurt or a mixture of yoghurt and whipped cream if you like.
My crumble is made with olive oil and honey rather than butter and sugar so it is all round a really healthy dessert. The crumble is given extra flavour and crunch by adding flaked and ground almonds to the mix. I chose almonds because I saw families picking their almonds at the same time as picking their figs today and the figs at the market looked beautiful.
I made a compote with the figs just by cooking them with some honey and a bit of water until it resembled runny jam. I left it to cool while I made the crumble mix. You just spread out all of the crumbly lumps on a baking sheet and cook it until it is browning. When it’s cool you can store it in an airtight container and use it to top ice creams, stewed fruit, yoghurt and anything else you think could do with a sweet crunch. This recipe makes more than you need so you should have some left over, unless you keep picking at it of course.
Makes 2, vegetarian. No butter, no sugar, no cream. Adapted form Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall
- 200 g soft ripe figs, roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp water
Put the figs, honey and water in a sauce pan, bring to a boil then lower the heat to medium and simmer until it resembles a jammy compote. About 3-5 minutes. Leave to cool.
- 3 tbsp ground almonds
- 6 tbsp wholemeal spelt flour (or any flour)
- 3 tbsp oats
- 3 tbsp flaked almonds
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- a pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 tbsp honey
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking sheet with parchment. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Using a fork, mix in the olive oil and honey the using your fingers make it resemble crumble. You should make lots of clumpy crumble lumps. Spread the crumble out in one layer on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes but keep an eye on it incase it burns. It depends how big your clumps are as to how long it will take. It should be nicely browned. Now leave it to cool.
- 2 pots or 250ml goat’s/Greek yoghurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- about 4 large tbsp fig compote in each serving
- a large handful of crumble mix for each
When the compote and crumble mix have cooled, mix the yoghurt and vanilla in a bowl and swirl through the compote. Taste it and add some honey if you think it needs it but remember the crumble is going on top.
Pour into serving dishes and top with a generous handful of crumble mix. You may have to crumble it more if you have large clumps.
A fumble! I like!
Is it too late to give our guests just this and skip the cous cous and veggies ?? I’m droooooling just looking at this guapa. The photos are SUPERB !!! Top of the class, 10 housepoints and a gold star !!
This sounds fabulous, Natalie. I have yogurt and fresh figs and almonds in the house right now and so have no reason not to make it.
Mmmmm such a delicious fumble. The best kind!
Delicious, I’m such a fig fan. I have a few starting to bud on my tree, it will be my second crop this year so I am very excited.
MmmMmmm! You can’t beat a good fumble – see, I couldn’t resist descending into vulgarity! It sounds and looks scrummy, as usual, I think I’ve put on a kilo just drooling over it. Well done. C xxx
Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2012 15:14:48 +0000 To: theladyo@hotmail.com
Caroline Elliott, only you could force a perfectly good recipie down a smut tube !! Personally I seem to have forgotten any bad fumbles I may have had !xx
I have never heard of a fumble before! I love that name. And I have all the ingredients in the house right now. I am very happy with the idea of using greek yogurt. I know I would love it with whipped cream, but I think yogurt will probably suit me much better! 🙂 D
Very nice dessert, easy and elegant at the same time… Figs look really delicous in your photos.
Lovely photography.
A wonderful idea and so beautifully presented. I will definitely try your crumble as soon as I can.
Very clever, what a great idea. We had so few figs when we gt back though 😦