Feijoa and Apple Crumble | Gluten-free & vegan

It's feijoa season here in Auckland. And there are bushes literally EVERYWHERE. On our bike ride to the Shed Collective markets, we only had to stop a few times along the Oratia cycle path to get enough for a crumble (and a few more for snacks during the week.)

I've used some gluten-free flours you might not normally have in your pantry: coconut flour and sorghum flour. Let me explain why.

Coconut flour is incredibly absorbent. And it's also a bit gritty. These two factors combined make it perfect for crumble topping. You want it to be crunchy on top and absorb all the delicious fruit juices below without being a gooey mess. It also happens to be high in protein and fibre. Win!

Sorghum flour is another great gluten-free flour for adding crunch to any baking you're doing. It's also purported to be a great wheat-flour replacement when blended with other starchy gluten-free flours. And again, it's high in protein and fibre. Double win.

If you don't have these at home, you can make this with just straight gluten-free flour. Or, if you have some leftover gluten-free Buckwheat Freedom Loaf, give a few slices a pulse in your food processor (or chop up finely), and add that instead! It will add plenty of texture and nutrition.

A few quick notes: of the feijoas I used, only half were ripe, so I put in eight instead of twelve and the maple syrup counteracted the tartness.

When it comes to fruit crumble, I like at least a 50/50 ratio. If anything, I lean more towards the topping side of things. You could easily half the topping recipe for something more fruit focused.

If you are coeliac, sub the oats for whole buckwheat that you've blitzed lightly in a food processor. This will make for a slighlty crunchier crumble which I'm very partial to.

And, I'll be frank—there's a decent amount of sugar in this. But also, that's what makes this really good. I highly recommend using this recipe as a starting point and adjusting it to work for you. That's how I love to bake: one version as per the recipe as a test, and then a second (third, fourth, fifth) time for experimenting and adjustments.

Crumble

150g of dairy free butter / margarine / coconut oil*

2/3 cup gluten-free flour, lightly packed

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup desiccated coconut

1 cup brown sugar**

2/3 cup rolled oats / blitzed buckwheat

Fruit base

8-12 ripe feijoas, scooped out and cut into chunks

2 apples, peeled and cut into chunks

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 scant cup of maple syrup

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

To make your crumble topping, combine all your ingredients in a bowl and mix together using your fingertips. You want it to be able to combine together roughly in a ball but to also crumble easily when you rub it between your fingers. If it’s too wet, add a little more oats or flour. If it's too dry, add a touch more of your butter substitute.

In your baking dish, mix the chopped feijoa and apple chunks with the ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and maple syrup.

Crumble your topping over the fruit evenly. Then bake for 30 - 40 minutes until the fruit is cooked and the crumble is golden brown and crunchy.

* You want something with butter-like qualities, ie. a higher saturated fat content, as that will help give it a good crunch.

** You can easily sub out brown sugar for an unrefined version such as coconut sugar.