Strawberry & Pink Peppercorn Crumble Bars (Slow Cooker)
I love making something like this using the slow cooker instead of a traditional oven as there is no danger of the fruit mixture burning, which often happens in the oven depending on the level of sugar in the fruit and jam. If you are desperate for that crunchy browned top, you can finish these in the oven for 10 minutes, but that classifies as unnecessary effort in my book.
Ingredients 10
Base
250 g rolled oats, (porridge oats)
150 g plain flour
140 g brown sugar
200 g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
Pinch salt
Strawberry Filling
375 g strawberries, hulled and halved
1 1⁄2 tsp pink peppercorn, lightly crushed
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
160 g strawberry jam
To Serve
freeze-dried strawberries, crushed
1⁄2 tbsp pink peppercorn, to scatter
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Method 8
Grease and line a 22 cm (8 3/4 in) springform cake tin.
Add the to a food processor and blitz to a flour-like consistency.
Add the remaining base ingredients (, , melted and a pinch of ) and blitz to combine. Press a generous amount across the base of the cake tin and slightly up the side. Set aside the remaining mixture for the topping.
Set your slow cooker to high. Make a sling for the base of the cake using aluminium foil or baking paper. This will make it a lot easier to remove the cake from the bowl at the end. Lay the sling inside the bowl, then pop the cake tin on top and cook with the lid off for 1 hour. The base won’t take on colour as such, but it will cook and harden like a biscuit.
While the base is cooking, combine the strawberry filling ingredients (, , , , and ) in a bowl and stir to fully incorporate the vanilla and peppercorns.
Spoon the mixture over the base, then sprinkle over chunks of the remaining oat mixture – much like a crumble – being rather generous as this will meld into the fruit as it cooks.
Cook for another hour, or up to 2 hours depending on how soft the fruit is. You really don’t have to oversee this at all as it can’t burn, but you do want the fruit to cook through and break down a little with the .
Using the sling, remove the cake tin from the cooker, allow to cool slightly, then pop in the fridge for a few hours to firm up. Leftover pieces are best stored in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Katrina Meynink's tips
I found I had a bit of leftover base mixture by the time I had sprinkled it over the fruit, so rather than scale back the quantity, I have left it as is. The extra mixture is handy in case your fruit is quite wet and you need some extra topping to absorb moisture, or if you like an extra-thick base. Or if, like me, you decide to make a few quick oat cookies. Simply add a bit more melted butter, roll into balls and bake.
You will need a 22 cm (8 3/4 in) springform cake tin to make this recipe. Don’t use frozen fruit; it is too wet for slow cooker conditions and won’t work.
