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English Christmas Crumble

A crumble topping over mincemeat and peaches baked until golden.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

English Christmas Crumble

Oven400°F
Time25-30 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Set oven to 400°F or mark.

  2. Make the crumble mixture: sieve the flour into a bowl and rub in the margarine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

  3. Stir in the ground almonds and the sugar.

Assemble and bake

  1. Place the mincemeat in an ovenproof dish and cover with the drained sliced peaches.

  2. Reserve 8 peach slices for decoration.

  3. Top the dish with the crumble mixture and bake for 25‑30 minutes until the crumble is golden brown.

Decorate and serve

  1. Decorate with the reserved peach slices and the glace cherries.

  2. Serve hot with custard or cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

759Calories
16 gProtein
14 gFat
144 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cherry1 cup (138g)87
Peach1 medium (150g)59
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Almond + peachtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  4. Sugar + peachtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the base of the crumble topping and gives it structure.
Margarine
Rubbed into the flour to coat it, giving the topping a crumbly, tender texture.
Ground almonds
Add nutty flavour and a slightly moist, tender texture to the crumble.
Demerara sugar
Sweetens the topping and helps it brown in the oven.
Mincemeat
Forms the rich, spiced filling beneath the fruit and topping.
Sliced peaches
Provide fruit moisture and a sweet, fresh flavour against the spiced mincemeat.

The step that matters

Rubbing in the margarine. Rubbing fat into flour until it resembles breadcrumbs coats the flour particles so the topping stays crumbly rather than dense. Overworking it warms the fat and develops gluten, making the crumble tough.

Swap the peach

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, almond, sugar):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Peachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, almond, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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