Fruit brownie crumble - And a trip to the farm

Following a enthusiastic trip which was long due to the local farm (basically something like a U-pick place) ended up in me heaving a basketful of fresh fruits and vegetables.
This was my first trip to any farm, and I ended up thoroughly enjoying it. It was like our backyard -back home, only bigger and better.

Fond memories came rushing back, our beautiful garden with fresh fruits, flowers and vegetables right in my own backyard, which sadly I never took time to stop and appreciate.
Now, getting it from the local store is as fresh as it gets. But the farm was a welcome change to the off-the-tree produce that we normally end up with, and I am one happy fruit picker, this week, and every week from now on.

While the vegetables are yet to be put into good use, the fruits as you can see has already met its fate :) Good for me, because they taste reallyyyy good right now.
I found this recipe from thepappilonpantry while I was fishing for some innovative ways to use the fruits up. Amazing as the recipe is by "Kiriel", I was dying for something chocolatey. She has a very nice version with oats and rhubarb with I am yet to use in my cooking.
As you can see, I ended up with a mixture of brownie and fruits, put them together, and here it is...

Fruit brownie crumble
(Oh! how I envy those bloggers with pictures of their own plants and produce! Sigh!)

Ingredients:

For the fruit compote:

Fresh fruits - 5 cups (I used applies, strawberries raspberries, & plums) Pineapple would have been a good addition, but did not have any :(
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Orange juice - 2 tbsp
Cornstarch - 2 tbsp
Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1/4 tsp

For the Brownie crumble:

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
White sugar - 1/4 cup (I used a little less of both)
Cocoa - 1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup (I used whole wheat pastry flour)
Butter - 4 tbsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

Method:

Cut all the fruits into bite size 1-inch cubes and keep aside.



Preheat oven to 375F.

Sprinkle the fruits with the sugar, toss and set aside for 20 min. It should leave out some liquid, if not add the orange juice and toss.



Add the cornstarch, nutmeg and vanilla to the fruit mixture and mix well. The fruits will kind of gel together at this point.

Transfer into a 8" greased baking dish, and set aside till you prepare the brownie crumble.



For making the crumble, mix all the dry ingredients listed above first. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients. You will get a crumbly textured mixture. Make sure it is not too wet or too dry.

Top this crumble entirely over the fruit mixture which is already in the baking pan.



Bake for about 30-40 min or till the fruit starts to leave out juices from the corner of the pan through the crumble. The topping should be firm to touch. Rest outside the oven for 15-20 min before digging in.

Scoop with a ladle and serve warm with cold ice cream or just eat it the way it is.



I am sending this away to Aparna for the MBP-Fruit Fare event
This cute little drawing was apparently done by Aparna's daughter Akshaya when she was eight. How thoughtful of her to have incorporated it into the event! Nice work.



Also sending it to Meeta's Chocolate and Fruit event