Deep Blackberry and Apple Streusel

The picture really does not do this dessert justice. I had thought I would try to take one of a slice the following morning, in the daylight and with time to set it up nicely. As it was I barely had time to take this one before everyone dived in, and by the morning there was nothing left to photograph!

It really is quite difficult to say streusel without a comedy accent so feel free to call this a posh crumble. Essentially it is a very rich crumble or sweet pastry mix, half of which is packed down into the base of the tin and the rest is sprinkled over the fruit. It is absolutely delicious, but despite the fruit, most definitely not the healthiest dessert you could choose!

There are still blackberries to be found and there’s nothing better than a walk with added blackberry picking. And if you have family or friends over this is the perfect dessert. They can even help you pick the blackberries.

Recipe

Ingredients

250g plain flour

125g ground almonds

125 golden caster sugar

zest of one lemon

250g butter, chilled and diced

300g eating apples

200g cooking apples, eg Bramleys

300g blackberries

80g caster sugar

Method

Heat the oven to 175°C. Grease and line an 8″ (20cm) deep-sided cake tin that has a removable base.

Put the flour, ground almonds, sugar and lemon zest in a food processor. Add the very cold, diced butter and reduce the mixture to crumbs. If the butter is not cold enough it will turn into a dough and you need a crumble mixture.

Put half the crumble mixture into the base of the cake tin and press it down thoroughly.

Mix the apples and blackberries with the 80g of caster sugar and spoon the mixture over the base. There is no need to press it down, just make sure it is relatively level.

Tip the remaining crumble mixture on top of the fruit and very gently level it off without packing it down.

Make sure you put the tin on a baking tray in case a little juice leaks as the fruit softens. Bake for around 1 hour until the top is golden and the fruit is cooked.

Allow it to cool for a while before very carefully removing the tin and transferring to a plate to serve. Serve it on its own or with cream, crème fraîche, custard or ice cream.

It is absolutely delicious warm but is also very good the following day (if you have any left) as a sort of cold crumble cake bar. It also reheats well.

A dessert that really makes the most of a couple of great things about autumn – blackberries and apples.

Categories: Baking, Desserts, Foraging, Fruit, Fruit picking, Lifestyle, Pastry, Recipes

Tags: apples, autumn, baking, blackberries, cake, dessert, foraging, fruit, fruit picking, hedgerow, recipe, seasonal cooking