Black boy betty

Earlier this week, I acquired a bagful of black boy peaches from a generous colleague. While my Edmonds book doesn't have any recipes particular to black boy peaches, there are several peach recipes I considered. Deciding, however, that I probably should leave the peach sauce and chutney until I had some ordinary peaches, I elected instead to make a simple fruit crumble.

The fruit crumble recipe (p209) offers several variations. And, while we all have our favourite crumble recipes, (I usually use the Healthy Food Guide one - no butter!) the basic Edmonds crumble is a fairly familiar version. What's the point of me telling you about something you already know and love? So, I chose instead the 'fruit betty' variation.

Fruit betty is very similar to a crumble, except that where crumbles use a butter/flour or rolled oat mixture, a betty uses fresh breadcrumbs. You also layer the breadcrumb mixture between layers of fruit - not just on top like a crumble.

I chopped and peeled my peaches, and while they were stewing, I prepared the breadcrumb mixture. A large bread roll, blitzed in the food processor, supplied me with sufficient breadcrumbs. These were then tossed in a frypan with some melted butter. I used canola spread instead of butter, in an effort to try and keep this pudding on the healthy side - a futile attempt when you consider the amount of sugar in the recipe, but it worked just as well as butter. So I got the fat content down a bit, at least!

I toasted the breadcrumbs in the frying pan until they were golden and crispy, then added the sugar - both brown and white - and stirred it through, resulting in a decadently sugary mixture. By this time, the peaches were ready, so I put the first layer of fruit in a casserole dish, and spirinkled half the crumb mixture over. Then the next layer, and the rest of the crumble on top.

Into the oven, supposedly for 30 minutes, but mine was ready well before that - less than 20 minutes and it was brown enough that any further cooking would burn the topping.

And the verdict? Fruit betty is SO good! Crunchy, fruity, and perfect for a chilly autumn evening. The crumb layer in the center doesn't stay crunchy, but it doesn't just go gooey either; it seems to kind of dissolve in and thicken the fruit mixture. The crumb on the top stays crunchy though.

As for leftovers, ("what leftovers?" I hear you say) I've just come home from work and tried some of the betty left over from last night. No longer crunchy, but still good: fruity, filling and warming when you've just come in from the cold. Mmmm. It's best fresh, but not bad the next day, so there's no excuse for eating it all at once. D'oh.

So next time you find yourself reaching for your crumble recipe, try a fruit betty instead. It's similar enough to curb a crumble craving, but just different enough to make a change. And as they say, a change is as good as a holiday!