Autumn Fruit Crumble with Pumpkin, Apples and Quince

When autumn arrives, markets begin to fill with some of the most beautiful seasonal fruit. Apples, quinces, pumpkins and pomegranates appear everywhere, bringing with them the warm flavours we associate with autumn desserts.

This autumn fruit crumble is not the usual kind of crumble. Apart from apples, which are often used in autumn baking, this dessert also includes quince and pumpkin. The combination might sound unusual, but the three fruits blend wonderfully together.

Whenever I go to the farmers’ market, I never plan exactly what to buy. Of course I know the basic things I need, but I often end up buying whatever looks fresh and is reasonably priced.

This week, for instance, I bought pomegranates, quinces, pumpkin, apples, bananas and grapes. The bananas have not yet been consumed, so perhaps banana bread will appear here next week!

I would have loved to buy some chestnuts as well, but they were so expensive that I decided to wait until their price drops.

Last week I made an Apple Crisp, so this week I decided to try something slightly different and make a crumble instead.

The recipe turned out not too sweet, just the way we like it, and the crumbly topping came together easily.

I used Granny Smith apples because I like how firm they are and how well they hold up in baking.

Over time we have also grown to love desserts with oats. The kitchen filled with the wonderful aroma of cinnamon and autumn fruit, which made the dessert smell irresistible.

I served the crumble warm with vanilla and chocolate ice cream.

This was actually the second recipe I made using Quaker oats. The first was a batch of cookies which I have not posted yet, but everyone loved both the cookies and the apple crisp.

The only small change I made to the recipe was to add a little more cinnamon to the filling.

Today’s recipe, however, became something entirely new. I decided to call it Autumn Fruit Crumble because it contains three autumn fruits: pumpkin, apples and quince.

Quinces are often baked in Greece with sugar and cinnamon, just like apples, so I thought they would pair beautifully together.

At the same time, I had started roasting pumpkin for a savoury pie I was planning to make the next day. But as often happens when I am cooking, my mind started wandering through different flavour combinations.

“Maybe the pumpkin is too much for the savoury pie… What if I add some to the apple and quince crumble?”

At first I thought it might be too much to combine three fruits in one dessert. But by the time the pumpkin was roasted, I had convinced myself to try it.

Meanwhile I was also cooking some peas for a classic Greek dish with carrots, potatoes and tomato sauce — which, by the time it was finished, had become something completely different!

When I realised how little time I had before lunch, I needed a quick solution. Since the pumpkin was already cooked but the apples and quince were raw, I quickly softened them in the microwave.

The crust had been resting in the refrigerator for quite a while and had become too firm to roll or crumble.

“OMG, what was I going to do?”

After a moment of panic, I decided to simply slice the dough with a knife instead.

Believe it or not, that is often how things happen in my kitchen!

In the end, this dessert turned out even better than I had imagined. The soft pumpkin blended beautifully with the apples and quince, while the warm spices and oats created a wonderfully comforting autumn flavour.

Sometimes the best recipes are the ones that happen by accident — when you simply follow your instincts in the kitchen.

Served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this crumble makes a perfect autumn dessert.

If you have never roasted pumpkin before see how I did it.
How to roast pumpkin

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C / 400 F.

Cut the pumpkin and use the amount you want to roast.

After removing all strings and seeds, add 1/2 cup of water in a baking pan with lid and bake the pumpkin until it becomes soft, for about 1 hour.

When done, scoop out the pumpkin.  

It is so soft that it does not need to be pureed.

Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!