Brown Butter Hazelnut Cookie Crumble with Torched Plums

My great aunt in Germany made this buttery zwetschgenkuchen every summer when we visited. These sweet, tart plums were always in abundance during this time of year. This cookie crumble is much more casual than that beautiful cake she made but the flavors are reminiscent of it. I’m not a huge fan of cooked fruit – I like it fresh best, in all it’s sweet, tart, juicy glory. But torched comes in a close second. Saucy, caramelized but still fresh and tart – and just warm enough to melt the ice cream a bit. If you don’t have a torch, a few minutes under the broiler works fine too. So this cookie crumble stuff is dangerously easy to make and most likely you will have all the ingredients on hand, lucky you.

For the Cookie Crumble 

7 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup hazelnut meal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the Hazelnut Crocante

1/2 cup hazelnuts

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon sugar

pinch of salt

For the Torched Plums

3 plums

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions 

For the cookie crumble: brown the butter in a small saucepan until nutty and fragrant. Let cool slightly, pour in 1/4 cup of sugar and mix to dissolve. In a separate bowl mix together the remainder ingredients. Pour in the sugar / butter mixture into the dry mix. Stir it up! Pat it onto a parchment papered cookie sheet (like you’re making one giant cookie) less than half an inch thick. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes until golden brown. Let cool and then break into crumbs. For the hazelnut crocante: melt the butter in pan, toss in the roughly chopped hazelnuts, lightly toast until fragrant. Add the sugar and salt, mix and then turn off the heat. For the torched plums – cut fruit in half, sprinkle with sugar and torch until the sugar melts and starts to bubble. Serve with vanilla ice cream or scoop of mascarpone or drizzle of cream.