Michelle Darmody: How to bake the perfect blackberry crumble and the mistakes to avoid

Crumble is a dessert I never tire of for its simplicity

Blackberry crumble is the perfect warming end to a meal at this time of year

Picking blackberries is a wonderful time-honoured tradition in Ireland and the berries are just ripening on the branches, turning from hard red to a soft, deep purple. They can be used in many ways, both sweet and savoury, but I think they shine in a crumble.

Their inky, earthy taste adds a bit of bite and depth to the accompanying apples.

The toasting oats and apple add sweetness to the blackberry and will fill your kitchen with the smells of the autumnal harvest.

It would be too much to make an all-blackberry crumble, so apples or even pears are added as the perfect foil.

The lavender is optional in this recipe, but it adds a beautiful floral note.

Another herb that works very nicely with blackberries is rosemary. I often add a sprig when I am making blackberry jam, it lifts the overall flavour.

The crumble was made ever more popular when ingredients were rationed, or in short supply after World War 1. A crumble topping needs less ingredients than a pastry for an apple pie or a fruit tart.

It may be humble, but it is a dessert I never tire of for its simplicity and for the fact that it contains such large proportion of fruit. It is the perfect warming end to a meal at this time of year, when there is a nip in the air and the leaves are turning a russet red.

Blackberry crumble

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

Blackberries shine in a crumble.

Servings

6

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 25 mins

Total Time

 45 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 120g plain flour

• 50g coarse whole meal flour

• 130g cold butter, cubed

• 30g demerara sugar - a little extra for sprinkling

• 60g porridge oats

• For the filling:

• 600g apples, peeled, cored and sliced

• 100g blackberries

• 1 tsp lavender flowers - optional

• 1 tbs honey

• 1 tsp vanilla

Method

1. Preheat. Your oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4. Lay out six ramekins or mini tart cases.

2. Place the two types of flour, the butter and the sugar into a large bowl. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like rough breadcrumbs.

3. Add in the porridge oats and set aside.

4. Toss the apple slices, blackberries, lavender flowers, honey and vanilla together and divide the mixture into your six dishes.

5. Top the fruit with the crumble mix.

6. Sprinkle a little more muscovado sugar on top if you like.

7. Place into the center of your oven and bake for about 25 minutes until the crumble is golden and the fruit is bubbling. Allow to cool before serving.

Bakers Tips

Butter is an essential ingredient in a crumble topping, adding crispiness when baked, giving the topping its golden hue, and of course adding to the taste. Cubing the butter cold and rubbing it into the flour and sugar swiftly will all help to make a crunchier topping because the butter will not become greasy between your hands. If you have the time, you can place the topping in the fridge to firm up while you prepare the fruit.

I find that rubbing in the butter by hand gives better results than using a food processor. Electric appliances tend to bring the mixture together to resemble a dough and not give as crumbly a result.

If you find that your topping is not crisping even when you use cold butter it is most lightly due to the wrong type of sugar. Demerara, with its large granules adds a graininess and crunch to the topping.

I tend not to press the crumble topping down too much, as I like the fruit to bubble up through.

If you would like to add a little nutritional benefit you could substitute half ground almonds for half of the plain flour and complete the recipe as instructed.

You can sprinkle some oats on top of the crumble, as well as the sugar. It adds an extra toasted flavour as these oats will brown more than those incorporated in the mixture. The same can be done with some chopped nuts. Almonds work well with the blackberry and apple combination.

Crumble is generally best eaten on the day it is made but it will store in the fridge overnight.

3 delicious variations

Apple & pecan with maple syrup

For this recipe I use 650g of apple and add 30g of golden raisins and 50g of pecan nuts, chopped. Toss these in 1 tablespoon of maple syrup before placing them into the ovenproof dish. You can also add about 20g of chopped pecan nuts to the topping.

Plum cinnamon crumble

Plum crumble is lovely this time of year and sets off the summer’s end in the way pink rhubarb heralds the beginning of the warmer months. I use 600g of plums, stones removed, and tossed in 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of honey.

Salted peanut butter apple crumble

To make this version you can add 1 tablespoon of crunchy peanut butter to the topping when you are rubbing in the butter. Some brands of peanut butter can be salty but if you have a salt-free version you can add a generous pinch of sea salt to the topping as well. The peanut butter does not work so well with blackberries or plums, so I tend to keep this for a plain apple crumble.