Easy Recipe for Blackberry and Apple Crumble

So August is traditionally a great time of year to go blackberry picking in the UK. I remember picking blackberries from a pretty young age and probably eating more than I saved when out picking! Blackberries are not too hard to find in the UK unless you live right in the centre of a city or town, and even then you can often find them in derelict areas as they seem to grow like weeds in most places.

Check out any hedgerow in the country lanes of England and you are more than likely eventually going to find some blackberries. Country roads or river paths or just wasteland are the best and what is the best thing is that they are free!

If you are going blackberry picking then watch out for a few things - firstly the age old rule of only picking berries that are above the height of a dog ;-) - also, watch out when you pick them as not only are the plants very prickly themselves, they are often interspersed with stinging nettles. Thirdly, if you are really serious about it then take a small ladder as the best berries can often be found just out of the reach of the other pickers that have been through before.

So for a good sized crumble to feed 4-6 people you will need the following:

• Around 4 cups of blackberries (I am guessing this is about half a kilo)
• 2 large apples (cooking apples ideally but eating apples also work fine, whatever you have available)
• 3 oz sugar (white and brown)
• 3 oz butter
• 4 oz flour
• teaspoon of spice of your choice, mine is cinnamon

Firstly, wash the blackberries, particularly if you have picked them yourself. Then peel, core and chop the apples into large chunks.

Put all of the fruit into a large pan and add around 5 tablespoons of water and around 1oz of white sugar to taste (you may not need this much) plus a teaspoon of your selected spice.

Bring the fruit mixture to the boil and simmer gently for about 7-8 minutes so that they fruit softens but does not fall apart.

In a separate bowl, add the flour, butter and 2 oz (almost all of the remaining) sugar and mix them together with a knife. I use a mixture of white and brown (or demerara) sugar for the crumble to give it an extra crunchiness. Use the knife to cut through the butter so that the mixture resembles crumbs once it has all been mixed. You can also use the 'rub in' method of mixing by rubbing the ingredients through your fingers.

Put the fruit mixture into your casserole or other dish and flatten it out. Make sure there is not excess juice in the pot but just enough to keep it moist. Pour the crumble mixture on top of the fruit and even that out too. Sprinkle the last of the sugar (use the brown sugar) on top of the crumble, this should give it a crisp top.

Cook in the oven at 200 degrees for 25-30 minutes so that the fruit juice seeps through the top of the crumble and the crumble topping is crispy.

Serve with custard or ice cream.