Summer signals the arrival of the soft fruit season and even in this unreasonably soggy weather, provides a proper taste of British produce. This week I decided to dabble with a couple of crumble recipes using fruits that should be available fairly locally. However for me once you have some quality fruit, the most important thing about a cracking crumble is the topping. So here's the recipe I've come up with and use for all my crumble cravings.
Tasty Crumble Topping (serves 4)
4oz Butter, cold and cubed
40z Demerara Sugar
5oz Plain Flour
2-3oz Rolled oats (Porridge Oats)
Method:
1) Put all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl, reserving half of the oats. Rub the ingredients together between your fingertips until the butter is combined with the dry ingredients and resembles chunky breadcrumbs. Then fold through the remaining oats.
2) If you have time, chill the topping in the fridge while you prepare the fruit, or if it is more convenient you can prepare this up to 6 hours in advance. It is well worth doing this as chilling really helps to improve the texture and the final crunchy surface of the cooked crumble and helps to reduce the likelihood of your crumble being soggy. Now for the fruity fillings...
Crumble Number One: Apricot, Raspberry and Nutmeg
 |
| Sublime. |
4-6 Fresh Apricots, washed and quartered
120g Fresh strawberries, quartered/halved depending on size (just make sure they are all cut to similar sizes)
1/4 Freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbsps Honey
2-3tbsps Water
Method:
1) Preheat oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5.
2) Arrange the fruit evenly in an ovenproof dish, drizzle over the honey to sweeten and add the water.
3) Sprinkle over the crumble topping, so that all of the fruit is covered.
4) Grate over a little nutmeg and bake for 30-40 minutes, checking after 30minutes. When you check the crumble, light fork over the top to mix up the crispy surface and to allow more of the crumble mixture to crisp up. It is ready when the fruit is soft and cooked through, when prodded and top is golden brown.
Crumble Number Two: Rhubarb and Raspberry
1 x Tasty Crumble Topping mix
4-6 sticks of Fresh rhubarb, washed and diced into 1 inch pieces
200g Fresh Raspberries
2 tbsps Honey
3 tbsps Water
Optional: Sprinkle of ground ginger or cinnamon
Method:
1) Preheat oven to 190°C/Gas Mark 5.
2) Arrange the fruit evenly in an ovenproof dish, drizzle over the honey to sweeten and add the water.
3) Sprinkle over the crumble topping, so that all of the fruit is covered.
4) If adding the ginger/cinnamon sprinkle that over the top, and bake for 30-40 minutes, checking after 30 minutes and running a fork over to increase the amount of topping that is able to brown. It is ready when the fruit is soft and cooked through, when prodded and top is golden and the luscious fruit juices are bubbling up the sides.
 |
| Delightfully Rhubarby! |
Both of these are wonderful served up with a generous scoop of good vanilla ice cream or if the British summer has really excelled itself, a large helping of custard to warm you up! Indulge away, and let us know what you think!
