Blackberry and Apple Crumble

It’s blackberry harvest time now in the UK. I really love to pick and eat them and I feel that the whole experience is quite wonderful. I’ve taken a look at the season for harvesting blackberries in the US, and it’s from June to October.

I have a really nice wooded park near to my house with the odd fruit tree and bramble bushes that produce loads of fruit. So I’m lucky enough to pick around 100 blackberries, which I freeze into bags of 20 or thereabouts. I then have enough to make around 5 or 6 crumbles or pies with them.

Here’s my recipe for my ‘Blackberry and Apple Crumble’:

Ingredients:

6 eating apples

1 cup of blackberries

9oz self raising or plain flour

6oz sugar

5oz butter at room temperature or margarine

3 tbls sugar

Method:

Peel, core and slice the apples. Wash in a colander, lay on kitchen paper and pat dry. Put the apples onto a plate and pop in the microwave for around 2 minutes on full power. This softens them a little. Place them in a deep dish and scatter the washed blackberries over the top. Sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Put the flour in a bowl and add the sugar. Add the butter or margarine and crumble the mixture between your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Soft margarine will make this easier to do.

Spread this crumble mixture over the blackberries and apples, making sure you do this lightly. Try not to press down too much. Sprinkle over the top 1 tablespoon of sugar if you wish.

Put into the oven and cook for around 15 to 20 minutes at 180c. Please check after 15 minutes. The top should be lightly golden. If you cook the crumble for too long the top will become too hard and burn.

Serve with custard or ice-cream.