Single-Serve Fresh Cherry Crumbles

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 09/29/21
Fresh cherry crumble recipe

The Spruce Eats / Ulyana Verbytska

Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 40 mins
Total: 55 mins
Servings: 4 to 6 servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
375 Calories
14g Fat
63g Carbs
3g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 375
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 14g 18%
Saturated Fat 5g 27%
Cholesterol 20mg 7%
Sodium 66mg 3%
Total Carbohydrate 63g 23%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Total Sugars 48g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 7mg 35%
Calcium 34mg 3%
Iron 1mg 7%
Potassium 280mg 6%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

When summer comes, it is hard to resist those plump, deep red cherries piled high at the market. But we can eat just so many, right? As delicious as they are, it gets a little tiresome spitting out all those pits. That's when a warm fruit crumble comes into play. Here, fresh, sweet cherries are the star of these individual desserts where the bubbling juicy fruit is covered with a crunchy, buttery brown sugar crumble studded with nuts. Top each crumble with vanilla ice cream for pure perfection.

Ingredients

For the Crumble

  • Cooking spray, or butter, for the ramekins

  • 4 cups cherries

  • 3/4 cup water

  • 3/4 cup sugar

  • 2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

For the Crumble Topping

  • 4 tablespoons butter

  • 1/3 cup brown sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for cherry crumble

    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

  2. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly spray 4 (7- to 8-ounce) ramekins or 5 to 6 (5- or 6-ounce) ramekins or custard cups with cooking spray. Alternatively, lightly butter bottoms and sides.

    Ramekins

    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

  3. Combine cherries, water, sugar, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and stir to blend. Place pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.

    Cherries in pot

    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

  4. Reduce heat and continue simmering, uncovered, for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

    Stirring simmering cherry mixture

    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

  5. Divide cherry mixture among ramekins.

    Cherry in ramekins

    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

  6. Combine topping ingredients in a medium bowl.

    Combine topping

    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

  7. Sprinkle topping evenly over each filled ramekin.

    Cherry crumbles with topping

    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska 

  8. Put ramekins in oven with a baking sheet on rack below to catch drips. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until topping is browned and filling is bubbly.

    Put ramekins in the oven

    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
    Single-Serve Fresh Cherry Crumbles

    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

    Recipe Variations

    • If you don't have the proper dishes for individual crumbles, you can make one large dessert. Spray or butter a 9 x 13-inch pan and fill with cherry mixture. Then sprinkle the crumble over the entire top. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the filling bubbles and the topping is golden.
    • A crisp is a similar dessert to a crumble (and the terms are interchangeable at times), but it includes oats in the topping mixture. If you would like, add about 2/3 cup of oats to the topping ingredients. Of course, if you have a surplus of other fresh fruits, you can substitute for the cherries. Blueberries, apricots, plums, and peaches are all wonderful options when making a crumble.

    Pitting Cherries 

    The best thing about fresh cherries is how they taste. The worst thing about fresh cherries is that we have to pit them. But there are some tricks to make this tedious job a little easier. There are some good cherry pitters on the market, but if you are not interested in another kitchen gadget, not to worry; there are plenty of items you probably have in the house that will do the job just fine. One is a pastry tip (the metal piece that you put on the end of the pastry bag to pipe frosting). Place it tip-side up on a cutting board and then push the cherry onto it—the pit should pop right out. You can also use a chopstick, pushing it in one end until the pit comes out the other. If the only tool you seem to have is a paperclip, that should work as well; unfold it once (keeping two curved ends) and push it inside the cherry, digging around until the pit comes out.