End of summer blues and plum nibbling

It’s almost two weeks already since we’re back from our holiday road tripping through France and somehow, we can’t seem to see an end of the unpacking, laundry making, house cleaning, photo sorting, and mostly getting back to the it-s-not-holiday-anymore-there-s-work-to-do mode… You’ve got it, I’m suffering of an end-of-summer-blues, my ‘gourmande-proof’ remedy: nibbling plums while dreaming of an Indian summer.

Plums, lovely plums, all of them (mirabelles, reine-claude, quetsches, hollandse pruimen and s many more)… Did I tell you how luscious the dutch plums are? did I tell you how plums, cognac and hazelnuts are a marriage made in heaven? Of course I did… a couple of years ago already, my addiction had the shape of a tart then. This year my plum addiction has turned into a sexy crumble. Imagine the juicy plums, the warm and spicy cognac, the crunchy hazelnuts, a hint of cinnamon and vanilla… My 2010 Indian summer.

And you… What are your remedies against the end of summer blues?

(Dutch) Plum and hazelnut crumble
Crumble aux prunes (hollandaises) et noisettes

serves 4 pers.
prep. 15 min; cooking: 20 to 30min;
Oven temp: 180 deg C/350 deg F

Ingredients:
~ For the crumble topping:
60g butter, cold, and cut in small pieces,
50g finely ground hazelnuts,
50 g all purpose flour,
3 Tsp raw cane sugar,
1 pinch of salt,
1 pinch cinnamon,
1 pinch vanilla,
1 handful of whole hazelnuts [optional],

~ For the marinated plums:
500 g ripe dutch plums (or any local firm juicy plums you have around… such as reine-claude or mirabelles), cut in halves and pitted,
2 Tsp cognac,
1 Tsp lemon juice,
1 Tsp raw cane sugar,
1 pinch of cinnamon,
1 pinch of vanilla,

First prepare the crumble topping: In a bowl, mix the butter with all the other dough ingredients (except the whole hazelnuts) with a wooden spoon until it crumbles (you can also use your fingers, but the warmth of your body might have the butter melt faster that you would like). Refrigerate until further use.

Toss the plum halves, with the cognac, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon together in a bowl and leave to marinate a bit while you preheat the oven at 180 deg C. Grease a medium size oven dish generously with butter. Pour the marinated plums in an even layer and sprinkle with the crumble dough and the whole hazelnuts. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the crumble crust turns golden. Serve slightly warm on its own or with a spoon of yoghurt ice or creme fraiche.
Bon appétit!

More ‘I-got-the-blues’ sweet remedies? You might like these too…