A mouthful of apple and blackberry crumble is Autumn to me. The rich, tangy sweetness of apple and blackberry with a crispy top is absolutely delicious. But of course, you know that already!
For 4 -6 people you will need:
175g plain flour
75g butter, cubed
75g demerara sugar
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon for the apples.
1 tsp cinnamon for the crumble
4 cooking apples
2 handfuls of blackberries
Preheat the oven to 180°C
Peel and core the cooking apples, and chop them roughly into fine slices. Put the apple slices into a saucepan with a bit of water in – just enough to cover the base of the pan. On a low heat, stir the apples with the caster sugar until they start to ‘melt’ and stir in 1 tsp of cinnamon, before pouring the cooked apple into an oven dish. Sprinkle with jewel-like blackberries and put to one side.
Now for the crumble (crunch time!) Sift the flour into a bowl and rub the cubes of butter into the flour with your fingertips (or a metal spoon if you prefer!) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the demerara sugar and mix until well combined. Add the other teaspoon of cinnamon and stir.
Top the apple and blackberries with the crumble mix to cover it completely and put it into the oven for 25 minutes. Serve with your favourite vanilla ice cream (or double cream!)
Crumble does crumble, doesn’t it?!