Best ever apple and blackberry crumble

“Don’t worry dad, we’ve left you some of the crumble.” That was the accompanying message with the photo you can see on the right which holds the barest rind of apple and blackberry crumble. Someone was trying to be funny, God love them.

Still and all, out of the fridge cold and a day old, even that rind of crumble was the second best crumble I have ever eaten. The crumble topping was buttery and biscuity and even retained a little crunch, while the apples and blackberries were gooey and sweet and caramel-y and perfect. As I say, this was the second best crumble I’d ever eaten. The first best was the bowl from the day before – and it had all happened entirely by accident.

Earlier in the day on Saturday a friend rang to say he had a bag of local apples and he had neither the inclination nor the time to deal with ‘em. I didn’t even ask what kind the were; I had my jacket on and was out the door before properly hanging up the phone.

It turned out, he was in receipt of the apples from a kindly lady from down the road and didn’t want to see them go to loss.

“Say no more, pal,” I assured him. “Greedy-guts here will find a use for them.”

But what to do? Apple jelly for my toast? Apple pie with an all-butter shortcrust pastry? Cider?

It was only as I was returning to the house after purloining the apples that I noticed the glistening black jewels on their thorny perches, as ripe as ripe could be.

“Apple and blackberry crumble!” I told an empty car. “Yes, that will do nicely.”

Back at the homestead I ordered the eldest of the little humans to start on the recipe by making the crumble topping whilst myself and the littlest little human went foraging for the black jewels. This was the best end of the stick as we didn’t have to go too far before we had sated our own appetites and filled the little tub with blackberries full to bursting (literally) with autumnal goodness.

If you’ve ever made a fruit crumble you will know only too well: There’s very little to it. All that is required is a little patience and that solemn anticipation that everything is going to turn out fine in the end.

As is not the case with all crumbles, this recipe involves double-baking the crumble topping which I think adds a lovely crunch to the final dessert and also, the fruit is cooked through first via a kind of simple caramel – but we’ll get to that eventually.

INGREDIENTS

125 of plain flour

60g of caster sugar

60g of butter, cubed

250g of local apples gifted by a friend via a woman from down the road, roughly chopped

45g of butter

45g of light muscovado sugar

pinch of cinnamon

one small tub of blackberries picked with the littlest little human – about 150gs (washed and double-checked for bugs)

THE PLAN

Set the oven to pre-heating (175C) and as that’s happening make the crumble topping. Into a large bowl, place the plain flour and the sugar and mix.

Tip in the cubed butter and rub in with your fingertips until all incorporated and it looks like bredcrumbs.

Next, line a baking sheet with baking paper and spread on the crumble topping and retire this to the oven for ten minutes or so.

As that’s happening, wash and double check the blackberries and then peel and core the apples. The ones I used were not as sharp as a Bramley but not as sweet as a Braeburn. They might have been called Goldilocks’ Apples as they were just perfect.

In a small saucepan, add the butter and muscovado and bubble over a medium heat for a minute or two until you have a basic caramel. Add in the apples, stir about and cook for two minutes.

Add in the blackberries and cook for another two minutes and then add in the cinnamon and cook for another minute.

You don’t want to cook everything into a pulp but rather, cook the apples until almost tender.

Scrap and spoon all the fruity mixture out into a small oven proof dish and spread along the bottom evenly. Lastly, spoon on the crumble topping and return to the oven until the top is golden and the purple bottom is bubbling up around the sides.

And that’s how you make the best apple and blackberry crumble you’ve ever had – or second best if you’re eating the rind left-over by the greedy little humans on the morrow.