This simple plum and olive oil crumble belongs to early autumn: fresh and fruity, it still carries the feeling of the late-summer harvest, yet is warm and fragrant enough to anticipate cooler evenings.
Ripe plums are tossed with brown sugar, cardamom and a little extra virgin olive oil, then covered with a crunchy oat and nut topping scented with lightly crushed fennel seeds. Instead of butter, olive oil brings the crumble together, giving it a delicate, light richness while allowing the tart-sweet character of the plums to remain at the centre.
The result is naturally vegan, gently spiced and particularly suited to this moment between seasons, when plums are still abundant across much of Europe. In Germany, August and September are the main harvest months, with some varieties continuing into October.
It is also a reminder that extra virgin olive oil need not remain on the savoury side of the kitchen. In baking, its fruitiness can sit beautifully alongside stone fruit, nuts and aromatic spices - especially when the oil itself has enough character to be tasted.
Why Olive Oil Works in a Plum Crumble
A traditional fruit crumble relies on the contrast between soft, juicy fruit and a dry, crunchy topping. Butter is often used to bind that topping, but extra virgin olive oil performs the same structural role in a rather different way.
Here, the olive oil coats the oats and chopped nuts without making them heavy. As the crumble bakes, the topping becomes golden at its exposed edges while remaining slightly tender where it meets the plum juices below.
A fruity extra virgin olive oil pairs beautifully with ripe stone fruit. Plums become deeper and almost jam-like in the oven, moving between sweetness and acidity as they cook. Olive oil adds another layer of fruitiness and pleasant bitterness.
For this recipe, we used Honest Toil extra virgin olive oil, both in the plum filling and in the crumble. Its presence is intentionally subtle: enough to give the dessert roundness and character without overwhelming the fruit.
This is one reason it is worth choosing an olive oil you genuinely enjoy tasting on its own. For a deeper look at how flavour, freshness and production shape a good bottle, continue with Gourmie Magazine’s guide to olive oil, or explore the olive oil collection for oils with different sensory profiles.
Fennel, Cardamom and Late-Summer Plums
Plums hardly require embellishment when they are properly ripe. Their appeal lies in their balance: honeyed sweetness near the skin, acidity in the flesh and juices that intensify dramatically under heat. The spices in this crisp are therefore deliberately restrained.
Cardamom goes into the fruit rather than the topping. Just half a teaspoon gives the baked plums a cool, aromatic warmth without turning the dessert into an overtly spiced pudding. Its citrusy, floral character is especially good with darker, slightly tart plums.
Fennel takes a different role. A small quantity of lightly crushed fennel seeds is mixed through the oat and nut crumble. As the crisp bakes, their anise-like fragrance moves through the topping and meets the sweeter perfume of the fruit underneath.
We used particularly fragrant Daphnis and Chloe fennel seeds from Evia, a Greek island with a long tradition of cultivating this naturally sweet, balanced variety. Grown and hand-harvested by a second-generation farmer, the seeds bring a warm, aromatic depth that works particularly well with the plums and olive oil. Lightly crushing them before use releases their fragrance without making the fennel too dominant.
Ingredients (Serves 4-6)
For the plum filling
• 10 ripe plums, approximately 900 g, pitted and sliced
• 2 tbsp brown sugar or coconut sugar
• ½ tsp ground cardamom
• 1–2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (used: Unfiltered Koroneiki Extra virgin Olive Oil from Honest Toil)
• 1 tbsp flour, optional, if the plums are particularly juicy
For the olive oil crumble
• 100 g rolled oats
• 80 g chopped nuts of choice
• 60 g brown sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed (used: Fragrant Fennel Seeds from Daphnis and Chloe)
• 60 ml extra virgin olive oil (used: Unfiltered Koroneiki Extra virgin Olive Oil from Honest Toil)
Method
1. Heat the oven to 180°C fan. Have a medium baking dish, approximately 20 × 20 cm, ready.
2. Pit the plums and slice them into wedges. Place them in a mixing bowl and add the brown sugar, cardamom and 1–2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil. Toss gently until the fruit is evenly coated, then transfer it to the baking dish and spread it into an even layer.
If plums are especially ripe and juicy, add one tablespoon of flour to the fruit mixture before transferring it to the dish. This helps bind some of the liquid released during baking without taking away the desirable softness of the filling.
3. Make the olive oil crumble: In a separate bowl, combine the rolled oats, chopped nuts, brown sugar, salt and crushed fennel seeds. Pour over the 60 ml of extra virgin olive oil. Stir until the dry ingredients are evenly coated and small clusters begin to form. The mixture should look crumbly rather than wet.
4. Scatter the oat and nut mixture evenly over the plums. Avoid pressing the topping down: leaving it loose creates more exposed edges to become crisp and golden in the oven.
5. Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until the topping is golden and the plum juices are visibly bubbling around the edges of the dish.
Allow the crumble to cool slightly before serving. 10-15 minutes is enough for the fruit juices to settle while keeping the dessert pleasantly warm. Serve as it is, or add a spoonful of Skyr. Vanilla ice cream also works particularly well against the warm, tart fruit.
