A Few Of My Favourite Things

It's Autumn....and will soon be Winter. My two favourite seasons. It's cold, and dreary, and most people hate it. But it gives me ample reason to enjoy a few of my favourite things.
Reading a good book in front of a fire. The smell of a fire when you come inside from the rain. But most of all, warm, wintery comfort food.


The weather this week has been an indication of whats to come. Wet and windy and cold. And that can only mean one thing in my house - Crumble.

Apple Crumble has been a firm favourite in my house for as long as I can remember. And while over the years I have tried a few different variations, I always come back to the same simple recipe. It's warm, it's comforting, it's great in Winter or Summer, or any other time of year for that matter. And it's easy! Normally, I would do an Apple & Strawberry Crumble, (or Strappleberry, if you will) but seeing as blackberries are abundant at this time of year, I decided to be different!
You might notice I haven't cooked the apples first, I never have, and I doubt I ever will. It seems like a lot of work when the crumble goes into the oven anyway, and this way leaves the apples slightly crunchy still, which I love.

Apple & Blackberry Crumble

Ingredients:

• 8oz Plain Flour
• 4oz Butter
• 2oz Light Brown Sugar
• 3 - 4 Apples, dependant on size
• 100gms Blackberries 
• tbsn fine sugar

Preheat oven to 180 degrees (Celsius)

Crumble:
      Put flour into a bowl, add butter and rub together using your fingers. Keep rubbing the butter into the flour until it's all mixed in and it looks like fine breadcrumbs.  No matter what anyone says, no kitchen gadget will do this bit quite as well as you will with your own hands. Add the brown sugar and mix through. Set crumble mix aside.

     Get an ovenproof dish, peel and core your apples and slice thinly into dish. Wash blackberries thoroughly and add to apples. Sprinkle a tablespoon of fine sugar over the fruit. Use more than one if your apples or berries are very tart (You'll know because by now you've probably tasted them at least once or twice.)

     Sprinkle crumble mix over fruit. Cook for 30 mins, until crumble topping is browned.  Serve warm with ice-cream. (Or cream. Or custard. Or just by itself. It's all good.)

I had a bit of everything. Blackberry on left, strawberry at top, vanilla ice cream to the right! :)

Options:  As I mentioned above, I usually use strawberries. You can use any kind of fruit you want. These are just my favourites. I have tried pear in the past, wasn't too fond of it. I tend to stick to apple and add a berry. Raspberry works really well.

    Also, if you want your crumble to have a bit more of a kick, add some crushed almonds. Or some cinnamon. Or some oats. This is just a very basic, tried and tested crumble mix.