Do you Fancy a Fumble?

I'm sure you will fancy a Fumble when you know what it is - it's delicious!

A Fumble, in this case, is Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's name for a fruit fool topped with separately baked crumble crumbs. As he says, its a good way to get the three elements of a good dessert - fruit, something creamy and portion of a crisp carbohydrate -  together quickly and simply. You can see his recipe for Strawberry Fumble here, along with more ideas for the 'three-piece sweet' (his phrase, not mine!).

I thought the idea was a good way of allowing the dieters in the household (sob!) to eat dessert without all the calories of a traditional crumble. Those watching calories (more sobs!) can eat a large portion of fruit, topped with low fat yogurt and a few crumble crumbs for a contrasting texture. Everyone else can choose their own balance of fruit, cream or custard, and crumble topping - as much crunch as they like!

The idea worked very well with a warm compote of eating apples and blackberries. You don't get that lovely starchy layer, soaked in fruit juices, which forms between the fruit and the crisp crumble in the real thing, but it's close enough, and the texture contrast is good even with just a few pieces of crumble. I think the combination would be just as tasty with room temperature or chilled fruit mixtures too.

The crumble mix is pretty standard, although a bit heavier on the butter than the mixture I usually use - I found I had to fork through a couple of tablespoons of water to get the mixture to form clumps rather than a fine crumb, but maybe I rubbed in the butter too much. The clumps get crisper than a traditional crumble topping, but this helps them keep well, and you could always try sprinkling them over warm fruit and letting them stand for a while to soak up some fruit juice.