Juicy Plum Crumble

A dreamy mid-summer dessert

At last I’m baaack! What a whilwind book tour that was! A BIG heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out for it! I was so touched meeting you all in person!

The stories, the photos, the gifts (!) the hours traveled in the car or plane! Seriously, the whole thing was just so moving for me. So THANK YOU! Mwaah!!

A few scenes from the tour! Clockwise: Cooking Class in Minneapolis, my former Kin Community colleagues in LA, a dear friend in LA, Off to San Francisco for a book signing at Book Passage, a few TV Appearences in Minneapolis, a book signing at Anderson’s in Napperville; WOW what a turn out!

Missed the tour? No problem, I’ll be bringing the tour to YOU!

On Saturday I’ll be posting my “Behind-the-Scenes” Vlog of the entire tour on my YouTube Channel! So it will be like you were right there with me! So stay tuned fyou’ll see it pop up in Saturday’s newsletter!

The Plums Are Coming!

I returned home from France and was greeted with a parade of stone fruit at the market! Which means plums are not far behind! And when they arrive, you’ll want to be ready with this one!

You’ll love this Easy Plum Crumble recipe because it’s tart yet sweet and topped with the most delicious crunchy, sticky crumble! You’ll also love how portable it is too, making it the perfect summer dessert recipe to bring to BBQs and Potlucks.

If you can’t find plums you can also try my easy Blackberry Crumble recipe instead, it’s even easier since there’s no slicing or peeling of fruit! Just toss the berries and go!

Beautiful red plums combine with a crunchy, sticky crumble to create a fantastic summer dessert! Don’t forget the vanilla ice cream! (Spring for the good stuff, it’s worth it)

Which Plums are Best for Crumbles?

• You can use regular Black Friar Plums which have yellow flesh inside or red plums.

• I love the deep red color of the Santa Rosa Plums, Satsuma Plums, Simcas or Dinosaur Plums. But I’ll often do a mix of both, that way you get two different flavors and colors.

• The bright red color the red-fleshed plums bring such a fantastic summery color to this crumble!

• In my garden back in in L.A, we used to grow the Santa Rosa plums which have a deep amber flesh, and now that we are in France I’m having a hard time finding something similar. Anyone have any suggestions?

The more interesting the plums, the more interesting the crumble! I like to mix up the varieties for a more interesting flavor and color!

Can you make this ahead of time?

• Yes! The best part about a crumble is the fact that you can assemble the whole thing ahead of time (just like the ppicture below) and pop it in your fridge.

• Then when you sit down to dinner, place it in the oven and bake.

• That way once dinner is over you’ll have a hot bubbling crumble ready to serve to your guests.

• If you try to prebake it and then reheat it, it looses its syrupy texture. So just bake it while enjoy dinner!

• Then keep it warm if needed in a 300F (150C) oven.

Long, shallow gratin pans work best for crumbles (or individual ramekins) that way everyone gets enough of the crunchy topping to balance out the syrupy fruit!

MY COOKBOOK! (Now on Sale!)

My cookbook is officially on sale! In it you’ll find lots of yummy recipes for summer entertaining!

Some of my favorite summer recipes that I believe Every One Should Know How To Make Include:

• A beautiful (and easy!) summer crudite platter with green goddess dressing

• A 24-Hour Marinated Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

• An elegant Grilled Salmon with Mango Salsa

• A Syrupy Blueberry Pie with Flakey Double Crust

• My Grandmother’s Pound Cake recipe with fresh berries and homemade whipped cream.

• Fall-off-the-Bone Sticky Ribs (with homemade sauce!)

• A Fresh Corn Salad loaded with herbs and an easy vinaigrette

• A Horseraddish Potato Salad with Caramelized Shallots and more!