Easy, Bakery-Quality Queen’s Crumble Recipe (2024)

Just Desserts

Bakery-Quality Queen's Crumble

By Charlotte on June 13, 2014 6:07 AM

Our nephew Zach has a thing for blueberries. So a fruity dessert was a must when he and my younger sister Pam (she may be 50+ but she's still the baby of our family!) visited recently.

That's when I discovered this yummy Queen's Crumble from pastry chef Claes Karlsson's Big Book of Desserts and Pastries (Skyhorse Publishing, May 2013, $19.95). This delightful, cobbler-style dessert combines a buttery top and bottom crust with a blueberry-strawberry-raspberry filling. Oh my!

This cobbler-style dessert is filled with blueberries, strawberries and raspberries.

The sweet, oatmeal cookie-like crust calls for three sugars: granulated, raw and vanilla. I'd never heard of vanilla sugar but Google told me:

• It's very popular with bakers.
• You can buy ready-made sugar flavored with vanilla or make your own. One quick way is to mix 1 teaspoon vanilla extract with 2 cups granulated sugar. Spread the mixture on a tray and let it air dry for about 5 hours. Then put it in a food processor to smooth out any lumps.

Although making your own vanilla sugar takes some time, this sweet treat's divinely simple to make. It helps if you have a stand mixer to combine the crust ingredients but you also can use a manual pastry blender.

Fresh or frozen fruit works in the filling. I blended fresh strawberries and blueberries with frozen raspberries just because I had them on hand.

You get gourmet taste whether you use fresh or frozen fruit.

Since you use only 3/4 cup of each fruit, I wondered if there would be enough filling. However, it was perfect and made enough to feed eight when I layered the crumble dough, filling and more crumble dough in a 7- x 10-inch dish.

We adored this sweet treat served warm withand without vanilla ice cream.

We adored this fruity dessert served warm. My sister Pam and I ate it plain while Bob and Zach added a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Either way, it tastes so good you'll swear it came from a bakery.

• 3/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups oats (we tested with old fashioned oats)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
• 3/4 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
• 3/4 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 3/4 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen

Mix together the first 6 ingredients until the dough resembles fine breadcrumbs. Cover the bottom of an ovenproof dish with about half of the crumble dough and top with the berries. Cover the berries with the rest of the crumble dough. Bake in the center of the oven for 50 minutes at 300 °F. Crumble can be served hot or cold with vanilla ice cream or vanilla sauce.

Recipe* from The Big Book of Desserts and Pastries: Dozens of Recipes for Gourmet Sweets and Sauces

Author: Claes Karlsson

Other Works: Head pastry chef at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden

Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing

Penned: May 2013

What's Inside: Recipes for dozens of professional pastry chef Clase Karlsson's favorite goodies. You'll find easy-to-follow instructions for impressive desserts (everything from Mango Sorbet to Chocolate Mousse with Carmelized Almonds), candies (think Tangy Lemon Ice Lollies) and pastries (make mine Vanilla Sponge Cake with Lemon Curd!). There's even a chapter devoted to basic recipes like frostings, sauces and edible decorations that can lend a gourmet touch to any sweet treat.

Time Out: 160 pages

Available: $19.95 at Amazon and most book retailers

* Excerpted from The Big Book of Desserts and Pastries by Claes Karlsson © 2013 Skyhorse Publishing. Reprinted with publisher permission.

In the mood for something sweet? You'll also enjoy:

• Classic Chocolate Cream Pie
• Easy Chocolate Kiss Peanut Butter Cookies
• Easy Chunky, Chocolate Pecan Cake Mix Cookies
• Great German Chocolate Pie with Goof-Proof Homemade Crust
• The Joy of Sweet and Salty Candy Bar Blondies

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