Make this easy cherry chocolate crumble from fresh Bing cherries and a chocolate crumble topping with this recipe!
I think bittersweet chocolate and sweet cherries are a match made in heaven, and I don’t think I’m the only one. I find it’s important to add a little almond extract (the real kind, not the fake kind) to the cherries to help bring out their flavour and perk them up, otherwise, cooked cherries can be a bit bland. Feel free to use almond extract, if you prefer.
I used quick-cooking tapioca (the tiny kind) to thicken the fruit juices because cherries give off A LOT of liquid as you will see when you start cooking them on the stove, so unless you want to make a weird baked cherry chocolate soup, you should use a thickener. I tested 2 tablespoons in my first attempt at this recipe, and then 1.5 tablespoons in my second attempt. The cherry layer is still quite set, as you can see. I think this is just right, but you can try lowering the tapioca even more if you want the cherries to be a little looser.
Don’t forget, crumbles are fruit desserts made with a crispy topping that does not contain oats, whereas crisps contain oats.
If you like unusual crumbles, be sure to check out my grape crisp with a peanut butter crumble topping. Or for something more traditional, there’s always strawberry rhubarb crumbles.
Cherry chocolate crumble
Ingredients
For the cherry filling
- 800 grams (1.8 lb) Bing cherries 4 cups, pitted
- 100 grams (½ cup) granulated sugar
- 7.5 mL (½ tbsp) fresh lemon juice
- 22.5 mL (1½ tbsp) minute tapioca
- 1.25 mL (¼ tsp) pure almond extract
For the chocolate crumble
- 63 grams (½ cup) all-purpose flour
- 50 grams (½ cup) Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder
- 48 grams (½ cup) unsweetened shredded coconut
- 150 grams (¾ cup) granulated sugar
- 60 grams (¼ cup) Stirling Creamery Churn 84 salted butter melted
Instructions
First prepare the cherries
- Combine cherries with sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Heat the fruit on medium for about 10 minutes. In that time, the cherries will release their juice, the sugar will dissolve and the mixture will come to a boil.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the tapioca and let the mixture sit for 1 hour, then add the almond extract.
Now make the crumble
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- Whisk together the flour, cocoa, shredded coconut, and the sugar. Pour the melted butter over top and work it in with a fork and then your fingers to get all the ingredients evenly mixed.
- Pour the cherry mixture into a 10 inch round deep dish baking dish (or equivalent). Top with the crumble, pressing the crumble mixture together as you drop it over the cherries to help form clusters of crumbs.
- Bake the crumble for 30 to 35 minutes or until the cherry mixture is quite bubbly and hot. Let sit to cool on a wire rack before enjoying warm or at room temperature. It tastes amazing served with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Notes
- For the tapioca, I used tapioca like this on Amazon
- I baked with Stirling Creamery Churn 84 salted butter
- Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa is a very dark cocoa powder that you can find on Amazon.
Nutrition
I do my best to bake with the finest ingredients. Stirling Creamery, a Canadian company, has provided the butter for this post.
Oh, mon dieu! As soon as I saw that photo I knew I had to jump onto your blog and read the post (and here I just sat down at my computer for ‘a minute’ in between chores [pause for laughter]. Chocolate and cherry is such a classic combination, but would I ever have thought of a crumble on my own? Well, now we’ll never know the answer to that question.
As for moving, I have moved many times — some for practical reasons, some for happy reasons, and some, well some were not happy moves. I thought my last home would be a lasting abode, yet here I find myself writing you from another new home. As far as moving goes, the one thing I’ve learned (besides how to pack really well) is to never make predictions.