method
Here it's hard for me to be precise as I do it all by eye apples blackberries etc....The blackberries we foraged from by the canal opposite us but, just because they were free I still use sparingly, such a treat I want my freezer bag to last the winter.
When working with apple, you need to work with a little haste, as they soon turn brown if left in the open. Chop the apples into large chunks, so that they don't completely dissolve in the pudding.
I make the topping first so that I can protect the apples from oxidizing i.e. turning brown.
This is a crumble so we want a layer of fruit and a mass of topping. Well I do! You can use a bigger dish and double the fruit if you wish, but I feel it's called crumble for a reason...
- Weigh out all the dry ingredients and mix
- Add cold, finely chopped butter in a metal bowl
- Mix with a metal spoon, chopping into the butter*
*do not over mix the lumps, they create texture
- Arrange the fruit in an oven proof dish
You can pop the fruit into a microwave for 3 mins to reduce the bulk if you want, so you can apply your topping ;-)
- Add the topping
- Bake in pre-heated oven for 45mins @ 180c
- Remove from oven when the topping is brown
- Leave to cool for 5 mins minimum before serving
