Peach crumble with maple-walnut ice cream – a simple summer dessert of tender peaches, nutty crumble and sweet, cool ice cream to top.  Jump to Recipe 

You know what I figured out this week? Taking photographs of food is reeaally tricky on crutches. Photographing a peach crumble with maple-walnut ice cream is even harder.

The physical impossibility of carrying plates, bowls and props to a table (only done with a helping hand from family members) and juggling everything around is compounded by the fact that humid, sticky Auckland evenings with hot dessert melt ice cream faster than I can point a camera at it. Add the unfortunate unphotogenic nature of crumble (seriously, so difficult to make it look like anything other than a bowl of mush!), and you have a real hot mess.

The resultant photos aren’t my best work – but I hope you can get the gist. Fresh summer peaches, hot and juicy and sweet, merge with a crispy, crumbly, oaty topping. A no-churn maple walnut ice cream is the finishing touch: cool, creamy and swirled with sweet, gooey maple-toffee coated walnuts and a hint of vanilla. It is the ultimate February dessert, even if it isn’t quite as good-looking as this cake. Quick question: what is the difference between a crumble and a crisp? Can anyone shed light? I’m calling this a crumble because that is what I have grown up calling them – but it could really be a crisp. I’m still on the fence.

In my head, it is the Waiheke dessert. My parents have a little (like, really little – one room) bach out on the island, a ferry ride from the city, which we visited a couple of times this summer. Although the oven is massive, taking up what seems like 3/4’s of the tiny kitchen, the rest of it isn’t exactly equipped for baking – so in stepped this crumble. I didn’t even have measuring cups or scales, so I know the recipe is very flexible – subtle differences emerged each time with my haphazard guesses, armed with a coffee cup and dessert spoon, but it always worked. Served piping hot, hands cupped around bowls topped with a melting layer of ice cream, it is unpretentious, easy, fast and just good. Really, really good.

Those were the type of days which manage to both stretch out languidly, filled with afternoons reading and the slow stupor of literally having nothing urgent to do, and fly past so quickly that we are now left wondering if they even happened at all. The lack of internet helped with the former – I quickly realised how heavily I relied on it, my phone a constant presence and the worlds of friends and strangers always only a click away. Every moment alone, a little bit bored, or spent waiting in line or for someone to hurry up or for the pasta water to boil or something to cook or to arrive – every waiting moment is spent head down, staring at a screen. Instagram usually, or pinterest. I don’t know if that is a bad thing, or just a fact, but not having it seemed to make space in the day somehow. For actually being there, rather than alone and interacting with a virtual, artificial moment. I guess those minutes here and there probably add up to hours over a week. Scary, isn’t it?

I do know that any goals or resolutions surrounding my internet use would probably be broken within a week – as soon as I had an hour spare at uni, or on public transport. But I will try to put down my phone more often, and remind myself of how I felt while writing this – seeing it less as a personal attachment and more as a tool, but not an essential. That may be much harder said than done, however!

I also wanted to say a huge thank you to everybody who noticed last week’s post. Your kind words and sentiments meant so much when I was feeling a bit down, and I really appreciated it for the smile it put on my face! This week is better, and I’m sure next week will be another improvement – but you guys are seriously the BEST.

Cook’s Notes:

• The recipe is very easy to adapt for different numbers of people or appetites: use however many peaches you want and adjust the crumble topping to suit.
• You can prepare the crumble in advance: toss the peaches early and make the crumble topping ahead, keeping both separately in the fridge. When ready to bake, top the peaches with the crumble and put straight in the oven.
• If you choose to make the maple-walnut ice cream, it is best made the day before you plan to serve the crumble. The very latest you could make it would be early in the morning on the day you are serving, but it really needs at least 8 hours in the freezer to set.

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