Cherry tomato & berry crumble

May 3, 2025

   

When making these two tomato desserts, it was important to me that the tomato wouldn't be hidden away - I wanted it to be a prominent, complementary flavour. I recalled having two inspiring back-to-back meals in New Zealand in 2013 that combined tomatoes with red berries - so bright and juicy, sweet and sour! It had me thinking that I could try bringing tomatoes and berries together in a warm fruit crumble for autumn.

My formula was pretty simple: equal weights of cherry tomatoes and frozen mixed berries, giving the tomatoes extra baking time to ensure they were properly soft. Then a crumble based on the proportions I relied on as far back as 2007 (apologies for the diet talk in that post - yeesh). I used gluten-free flour and wheat-free rolled oats to accommodate our favourite coeliac.

Those test proportions were just what I was after! The fruit layer was lush with a clear tomato flavour, subtly savoury amongst the berries, and an even texture across all the fruit pieces. The crumble was nutty and biscuity, not quite as golden as I reckon a wheat-flour version would be. I scooped Billy Van Creamy vegan peach and coconut icecream on the side, and everyone dug in with curiosity and compliments.

Cherry tomato & berry crumble

(based on this general crumble formula)

 

fruit layer

560g cherry tomatoes

560g frozen mixed berries

1/3 cup caster sugar

crumble

100g gluten-free flour

100g wheat-free rolled oats

100g caster sugar

100g margarine

50g flaked almonds

Preheat an oven to 160°C.

Halve the cherry tomatoes, place them in a casserole dish, and bake for 30 minutes, until they're soft and concentrated. 

While the tomatoes are baking, prepare the crumble. Place the flour, oats and sugar in a food processor and pulse briefly. Add the margarine and pulse further. Add the almonds and pulse a final time.

When the tomatoes are ready, retrieve them from the oven and raise the oven temperature to 190°C. Add the berries and sugar to the tomatoes and stir them all together. Dot the crumble haphazardly over the top. Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the crumble is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Allow the crumble to cool a little before serving, with a dollop of something creamy.