Rum-Caramelized Banana Berry Nut Crumble

As someone who dislikes both bananas and berries, the fact that this recipe exists on this blog is practically a pre-Christmas miracle. Fruity desserts aren’t typically my jam– Get it? Jam? …Sorry — but I had to step outside of my chocolate-covered comfort zone last week. You see, my brother, the king of clean eating, the lord of low carb, the supreme ruler of self-control, actually ordered dessert recently. Yes, it was quite shocking. Especially when he loved his dessert SO MUCH that he sent me several facebook messages about it and told me about it in person AND suggested I make it for our post-Thanksgiving dinner.

What was the special dessert, you ask? Rum-Caramelized Banana Berry Nut Crumble.

Well, I’m pretty sure it actually went by some other, similar name, but that’s what I’m calling it. Not to mention I’m on a roll writing here and I’m not slowing down this train to look it up– you know how it goes. It was from Yard House, though, in the spirit of properly giving credit where credit is due. And according to Mark, it was amazing.

Not one to be shown up by a restaurant to my own family, I decided to take on the challenge to make the crumble– or at least a crumble using similar ingredients for our tropical-themed dinner.

I tossed freshly sliced bananas and chopped strawberries in a mixture of brown sugar, butter, cornstarch and dark rum, so that when the fruits released their juices as they baked, they’d thicken into a sauce and caramelize the fruits. Then, I made a sweet crumble to sprinkle over top of the fruits, packed with macadamia nuts, ground ginger, and cinnamon. I popped it in the oven and let the heat work its magic. And guys. GUYS. If this did not make a banana & berry lover out of me.

There was this crisp-topped, warm-spiced, cookie-like streusel staring me in the face as I pulled the Rum-Caramelized Banana Berry Nut Crumble from the oven. The sauce from the fruit peaked out between cracks in the crumble and around the edges as this thick and bubbling, burgundy syrup. It looked so perfect that I almost couldn’t bring myself to scoop some out.

Almost.

But then I topped the Rum-Caramelized Banana Berry Nut Crumble with coconut ice cream and my little heart couldn’t hold back any longer. The way the ice cream started to melt into little streams between the chunks of crumble was practically pornographic. I took a big scoop and watched the steam billow up from the newly-exposed fruit chunks. Every spoonful had still-crisp and buttery crumb topping, cold nutty ice cream, and sugary, gooey fruit all in one. No wonder my brother was obsessed with that dessert– the flavor combination was better than humanly imaginable. Seriously.

And let’s just remember that it took me only a few minutes to prep this crumble before popping it into the oven. A dessert that easy should not be that good. It’s shattering some sort of scientific sweet-tooth law. This Rum-Caramelized Banana Berry Nut Crumble might break the dessert multiverse as we know it. Nope I’m not being excessive here, it’s a legitimate fear.

But for some more down-to-earth reviews, here’s what my family had to say about it:

“This tastes so much like the restaurant version, but maybe even better … I’d eat this every day.” – Mark

“I don’t like macadamia nuts. I don’t like coconut ice cream. Oh wait. Oh, wow. Wooow.” – James

“The rum isn’t too strong. I want a second bowl even though I’m stuffed.” – Mom

“I only want a little. Mmmmmm! Okay I’ll just take a bit more.” – Grandma Sandy

“This is good, girl. Real good. I like it with vanilla ice cream; I don’t eat that coconut shit.” – Grandpa Jim ?

Keep it real, Grandpa.

Wondering what your family would say about the Rum-Caramelized Banana Berry Nut Crumble? Well, you’ll just have to try it for yourself, then! And when you do, don’t forget to take a photo and tag #hostthetoast on Instagram so it shows up in the You Made It page. Include the reviews from your loved ones in the caption!

Rum-Caramelized Banana Berry Nut Crumble

Rum-Caramelized Banana Berry Nut Crumble Author: Morgan Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 55 mins Serves: 6

Ingredients

• For the Banana Berry Filling:
• 3 cups sliced bananas, from about 4 – 5 bananas
• 1½ cups chopped strawberries
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• For the Macadamia Nut Crumble:
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup light brown sugar
• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of salt
• ½ cup of melted butter
• ½ cup chopped macadamia nuts
• Halves strawberries, to top
• Coconut ice cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Spray a large baking dish with nonstick spray.
2. Combine the bananas, strawberries, brown sugar, melted butter, rum, and cornstarch for the filling in a large bowl and mix well. Pour the filling into the baking dish.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, spices, and salt. Then, pour over the melted butter and cut the mixture to form pea-sized crumbs. Mix in the macadamia nuts, and then sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the filling.
4. Bake until the crumble is crisp and golden and the filling is thick and bubbling, about 35 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
5. Serve with halved strawberries and ice cream.

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