APPLE & BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE

Ingredients
For the Filling:
Three large Bramley apples
1½ oz butter
12 oz ‘full and ripe’ blackberries
5 oz caster sugar
Pinch of cinnamon or cloves
2 oz cold water

For Crumble:
4 oz unsalted butter, diced
8 oz plain flour
4 oz caster sugar
A small quantity of brown sugar
Icing sugar to dust crumble with

Method
Preheat oven to 180 °C, 350 °F, Gas Mark 4.

For the Filling
First, freeze the butter for around 3 hours, then dice into cubes about ¼inch in size. Peel, core and dice the apples into pieces around ½inch cubes, and place into the fridge.

Now add the 2 oz of water to a saucepan, add butter and the heat until melted; then add the apple chunks and gently sauté, add cloves, if using sugar and the pinch of cinnamon, continuing stirring until apples are ‘soft’ but not too ‘splishy,’ add the blackberries to the apples and stir very gently. Remove from heat after about three minutes.

For the Topping
Thoroughly mix the flour and sugar, then place the chilled-diced butter into the mix and allow to come up to room temperature, then using a knife, ‘cut’ the butter into the mixture until very crumbly. The crumble needs to be very fine.

Spoon the fruit into a shallow round or oval oven-proof dish. Sprinkle crumble mixture over the top of fruit until fruit is covered. Dust over with a very little amount of brown sugar.

Place in preheated oven and cook on centre shelf for 15-30 minutes or until the crumble is a light golden brown. Dust off the top with icing sugar.

Serve with fresh dairy cream or creamy custard.