We are very fortunate that we have an old apple tree in the middle of our garden, so at this time of year we have a surplus of apples. This is my favourite classic recipe of what to do with them… apple and blackberry crumble. Lovely and comforting now the evenings are getting cooler (where did summer go to??!!) and great to freeze and bring out over the winter months. You can make this crumble in one big ovenproof dish, a few smaller dishes or in individual ramekin style dishes to serve each portion separately, its up to you, just adjust the cooking time as the individual pots would probably take 15-20 minutes and the large dish 30 minutes. Its making me hungry just writing this recipe.

INGREDIENT
Serves about 6

• 130g white flour
• 50g porridge oats
• 100g unsalted butter,  slightly softened (or left out of fridge) cut into cubes
• 50g soft brown sugar
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• 250g blackberries
• 250g (or 2 large) cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped into slices
  
  

1. Preheat the oven to 180 fan.
2. In a bowl mix your flour, oats and butter with your fingertips until the consistency is like breadcrumbs (you can use a blender if you wish). Then stir in the soft brown sugar.
   
3. Meanwhile, place your chopped apples in a saucepan with a tablespoon of warm water and 1 of the tablespoons of demerara sugar and heat gently just to soften the apples and let them soak in the sugar. Don’t overdo it as you don’t want soggy apples, just a few minutes to soften them is all it needs.
   
4. Place the apples and blackberries into an ovenproof dish (either one big one or individual pots its up to you) to fill about ¾ of the dish.
   
5. Then cover with your crumble mixture so the fruit is fully covered, scatter the remaining tablespoon of demerara sugar onto the top.
   
6. Cook in the oven until the top is a lovely golden brown, check with a spoon or skewer that the middle is piping hot. Leave to settle for a minute before spooning out and serve with vanilla ice cream. Or if serving in individual pots you are ready to go, just pop your ramekin on a serving plate.