Blackberry & Apple Crumble
For the crumble:
70g plain flour
60g cold unsalted butter
40g light brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of fine sea salt
For the filling:
1 big cooking apple
3 or 4 small eating apples (preferably plucked straight from the tree)
a good squeeze of lemon juice - approx 1 tbsp
50g light brown sugar
a big handful of blackberries (preferably wild, plucked from the hedgerows with stained hands as you amble along on a Sunday walk)
Preheat the oven to 180C/350C. Tip the flour into a mixing bowl then cut the butter into small cubes. Add the cubes to the flour and rub in until most of the butter is worked in but you still have a few small lumps. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon and salt.
Fill a mixing bowl (I had to change the one in the photo above as it was too small) with water and add a good squeeze of lemon. Peel, core and chop the apples, placing the chopped bits into the lemon water so they don't brown while you do the rest (both types together weighed roughly 475g for me). Drain the apples the stir the brown sugar through. Tip half of the apples into a medium sized baking dish then scatter half of the blackberries on top. Add the remaining apple, then the remaining blackberries. Spread the crumble over the top in an even layer. Place in the oven and bake for around 30 minutes or until bubbling, the apple yields easily to a knife when poked and the topping is golden brown.
Serve slightly cooled but still hot with custard, ice cream or cream.
(Serves 4-5)
Three other apple posts:
2010: Spiced Apple Cake
2011: Apple & Quince Pie
2012: Apple Fritters