Baby berry crumble

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For the puree

4 pears, washed

1 punnet of blackberries, blueberries, washed

1 punnet of frozen summer berries

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 vanilla pod (spilt in half) 

For the crumble topping

100g (1 cup) rolled oats

30g (2 tbsp) brown sugar

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp salt

40g butter, cubed and fridge cold

60g (1/2 cup) almonds, walnuts, roughly chopped (optional)   

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Makes 3-4 portions. Freezes up to 3 months.

Core and roughly chop the pears into large chunks, then place them into a large wide pan on a medium heat.

Add the berries, cinnamon and vanilla pod (and scraped seeds) into the pan with a tablespoon of cold water.

Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally. If the mixture looks a little dry, add another tablespoon of water to help cook the fruit.

Once it’s come to a boil, cover with a lid and turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Once the fruit is well stewed, remove the vanilla pods then place into a blender and blend until smooth consistency.

Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and place into a large container or pan in an ice bath (can be an empty sink with iced water), to help cool the mixture down quickly for it to be ready to portion.

Once the mixture completely cooled down, use a clean ice cube tray, baby food containers to portion the mixture. My favourite is using Doddle Bags which are re-useable food pouches.

This recipe makes plenty of puree for the little one that’s packed with vitamins from the fruit, but if you want to treat yourself to a tasty dessert, set aside a couple of portions of crumble mix before you blend it and top it off with a crumble topping. If you want to make this crumble topping baby friendly (10 months plus), I’d switch the sugar with coconut sugar, and make sure the butter is unsalted and leave the nuts out (unless you are sure your baby doesn’t have a nut/peanut allergy).

To make the crumble topping, preheat oven to 180c (350F).

Blend half the oats into flour. Place the oat flour with the rest of the oats in a bowl, along with the sugar, spices and salt.

Add the cubed cold butter and using the tips of your fingers, rub the butter into the mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs. Mix through the chopped nuts if using.

Place on top of the crumble fruit base and cook for 35 minutes or until golden brown.