"You could be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world…"

"…and there's still going to be someone who hates peaches." (Dita Von Teese)

I don't normally use quotes, but I felt that this one was particularly apt considering today's topic. I think that peaches are a love-hate thing. I have a friend who likes the taste but is put off by the furry texture. Understandable; but isn't the texture one of the things that makes a peach so unique? Personally, I love peaches, and I can't get enough of them. Fresh peaches, roasted peaches, peach juice, peach melba, peaches and cream… 

Today's recipe takes the hard peaches sitting in your fruit bowl and combines them with the slightly squishy blueberries you bought on offer and then left in the fridge, hoping for culinary inspiration to strike. (You may also have bought raspberries, or pears instead of peaches…) Mix the fruit with vanilla sugar, top with a buttery, oaty crumble and bake. Juices will be bubbling, sugar caramelising and mouths salivating all at once as the crumble cooks in the oven. 

 We usually cook our crumbles in a large dish and then serve them out. However, as tasty as it is, crumble does not look good on a plate. Nor is it very good for the waistline to have a big dish of crumble in the fridge with the left-over custard in a jug beside it - that's just an "accident" waiting to happen! Here I baked the crumbles in small individual ramekins, which are much better for portion control. Besides, they look ten times more elegant, don't you agree? 

Start with a basic crumble - oats, flour, butter and sugar. 

Rub it in! 

Chop up the peaches and divide amongst ramekins with the blueberries. 

Sprinkle with vanilla sugar and a little cornflour to soak up any extra juices - you don't want a soggy crumble. (I bought little sachets of vanilla sugar in France, but if you don't have any, just use ordinary caster sugar and add some vanilla extract.)

Add the topping and bake.

Don't they look cute?

*Song choice: American Pie by Don MacClean* - i love this song. It sort of fits with the recipe, too - I'm on fire today! 

Peach and Blueberry Crumbles (serves 4)
Fruit filling
2 peaches
2 handfuls blueberries
2 tsp vanilla sugar (or sugar and some vanilla extract)
1 tsp cornflour

Crumble
50g oats
50g plain flour
50g butter, chopped into small cubes
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbs demerera sugar

1. Heat the oven to 220°C. Chop up the peaches and divide evenly amongst four oven-proof ramekins. Divide up the blueberries. Sprinkle the vanilla sugar and cornflour over the fruit. 

2. Combine the oats and plain flour and rub the butter in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the baking powder and sugar. 

3. Divide the topping over the fruit-filled ramekins, pressing it down slightly. Don't worry if the dishes seem very full - it will cook down. 

4. Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Serve with crème fraîche, Greek yoghurt or vanilla ice-cream.