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Blackberry and apple crumble

Rachel Allen from Rachel's Favourite Food...
Another simple, yet delicious classic from Rachel Allen, this time a heavenly autumnal dessert

Blackberry and apple crumble

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

Put the apple chunks, water and sugar into a saucepan over a lowish heat and cook until the apples are soft and mushy; this should take about 10 minutes. While cooking, stir it every minute or so to prevent sticking. Taste and add more sugar if it needs it.

Transfer the apple pulp into individual bowls or one big pie dish and allow to cool slightly. Stir the blackberries into the apples.

To make the crumble, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles very coarse breadcrumbs. However, if you rub it too much the crumble will not be crunchy. Combine with the sugar. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the slightly cooled apple and bake for 15 mins for small crumbles or 30-45 mins for larger crumbles. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Cook's Notes
If you choose to leave out the blackberries, add ½ tsp ground cinnamon or a few cloves to the apple. You can also add oats to the crumble, or nuts, such as chopped pecans, walnuts or nibbed almonds. If you want to use less sugar, you can cook eating apples instead of the cooking variety, although they have a slightly less fluffy texture.

For a summer time rhubarb and strawberry crumble, just cook the rhubarb as you would for the rhubarb fool with strawberries, though you shouldn't reduce it as much; it should be a bit more juicy. Add the sliced strawberries - but not the cream - and cover with the crumble.