Fruit crumbles are easy to make and are delicious, which is why they’re the perfect topping when you’re cooking from home. However, it remains a fruit product, and there’s always that chance that it will become unattractively soggy during the preparation process, but how do you prevent that?
For context, most people prefer their fruit crumbles topping crispy, as that’s how it should be in the first place. However, while it’s pretty easy to want a crumble topping, achieving it isn’t as easy, as there are tons of mistakes you could make to ruin it before you even understand what you’re doing.
In this article, you’ll learn why your crumble isn’t crispy and how you can keep your crumble topping crunchy, just the way you like it. Also, you’ll learn the best ways to store your crumble topping to ensure it doesn’t turn inedibly soggy like it always does. Without further ado, let’s jump in.
Why is My Crumble Not Crispy?
As I noted in the introduction, there are so many things that could go wrong with your fruit crumbles, causing them not to be as crispy as you’d want them to be. If you can avoid making all of those mistakes, you’ll keep having crispy crumble topping each time you try, but what are these mistakes exactly?
One of the most popular opinions from experts to prevent crumble from turning soggy is pre-baking. If you haven’t been pre-baking yours, that might just be the reason why it doesn’t have the crispy texture you always wanted. For that signature crunchy or crispy look, ensure the crumble is pre-cooked each time.
Another reason your crumble may not be crispy is that you’re using the wrong kind of sugar. When making your crumble, it’s always better to use a type that adds some extra crunch to whatever you’re cooking or baking. Some recommended options are Demerara sugar and granulated sugar.
These are the two most popular reasons people end up with soggy crumble toppings, but they’re not the only reasons. You may be able to find out more through trial and error, and when you do, you should consider sharing your findings with everyone.
How Do You Keep Crumble Topping Crunchy?
Making crunchy crumble topping is only half the work; keeping the crumble crunchy over an extended period is where most of the work comes in. There are many different methods for retaining the crispy texture of fruit crumbles, but what’s the best way to keep crumble topping crunchy exactly?
The foolproof way is to keep any unused crumble topping in a refrigerator until it’s time to use it again. When next you need it, you can simply reheat it to get it back to its original warmth, taste, and texture. It’s crucial to note that the reheating process is another big exercise, but I’ll get to that soon enough.
Also, you can keep your crumble topping crispy by using just the correct amount of sugar during the preparation. Sugar can melt; you don’t want soggy and greasy stuff ruining your crumble topping, just because you added more than enough sugar during preparation.
Also, overmixing your crumble is generally disliked, as it makes it more difficult to achieve a crunchy texture. The crunchy texture is a result of the irregularities in the mixture; once you even out those irregularities, all you’ll have is a melty and occasionally soggy crumble, the kind that no one ever likes.
How to Fix a Soggy Crumble
If your crumble topping happens to be soggy, you’ve already made some mistakes. Discarding it would be another mistake for two reasons: soggy crumble is still edible, and you can fix a soggy crumble in most cases. Since you don’t want to fix a mistake with another mistake, you better learn how to fix a soggy crumble.
The best way to go about that would be to keep adding any of the dry ingredients that would bring back the crunchy texture. Some ingredients to consider adding include flour, sugar, or crushed nuts. In most cases, you should be able to retain that crispy and crunchy texture that you always loved.
Alternatively, you can consider using cornstarch. Using cornstarch in your crumble topping will prevent it from becoming soggy during crumble, without having any negative impacts on the taste. If you’re going this route, however, you should consider finding out the best proportion of cornstarch to use for the best results.
The butter is another big reason why you may end up with a soggy crumble, according to some recipe websites. For the crunchiest texture, nothing beats using cold butter for the crumble. While melted butter also works, it doesn’t help the crispy texture, and given that the entirety of this article is about making crumble toppings crispier, it makes no sense to recommend melted butter at this point.
How to Store Crumble Topping
The best way to store crumble topping while retaining the crunch is by keeping it in a refrigerator. Refrigeration is almost always necessary, even if you’re only storing it for a couple of hours. The reason is that some of the ingredients in the recipe can only withstand regular room temperature for so long.
To ensure you get the fresh version anytime you decide to eat your crumble topping, you should consider reheating it. Reheating fruit crumble toppings isn’t a complicated affair; simply use a microwave to heat for a couple of minutes at 300 to 400 Fahrenheit; or until it’s good enough for consumption.
However, you shouldn’t have to constantly refrigerate and reheat your crumble topping. Given how easy it is to make, it’s always best to make it fresh each time, so you have a crunchy and never-refrigerated treat every day.
Conclusion
Keeping crumble topping crunchy is one of the biggest problems currently facing our generation, but we may have found a solution to it. This article explains why crumble topping turns out soggy sometimes, and it also outlines what you can do to get and keep the desired crunchy texture.