Yesterday was a glorious autumnal sunny Sunday and we headed off to pick apples and blackberries in an orchard near Winchelsea.
There were so many unpicked apples (apparently it costs more to pick them than what they get from selling them), that we could've taken home bags and bags of them - maybe we'll hit the orchard again next week end?
Got home and I made my first ever
APPLE AND BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE
Which went something like this...
(recipe from River Cottage Everyday)
For the crumble
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Scatter the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5-7 minutes, giving them a shake halfway through, until just beginning to colour and develop aroma. Leave to cool then chop very roughly. Leave the oven at 180°C/gas 4.
2. For the crumble, sift the flour and salt into a bowl (or food processor). Add the butter and rub in with your fingers (or pulse briefly in the processor) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the soft brown sugar, oatmeal and ground almonds. Squeeze a few handfuls of crumble in your fist to make lumps, which will give you a deliciously 'rocky' crumble.
3. Put the apples in a large bowl, sprinkle over the caster sugar (I also added the maple syrup and agave here) add the walnuts, cinnamon and mix. Transfer to a large baking dish (or in my case, a couple of small ones), packing down the apples and blackberries as much as you can.
INGREDIENTS
- 100g walnuts (or pecans)
- 1.25kg cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely sliced
- 50g-100g caster sugar (I used less sugar and added Maple Syrup and Agave Nectar to sweeten it without the added sugar kick)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 100g Blackberries - my addition (optional)
For the crumble
- 225g plain flour
- A pinch of sea salt
- 200g cold, unsalted butter, cubed
- 150g caster or soft brown sugar
- 75g medium oatmeal (I didn't have Oatmeal, so I used Porridge Oats instead - it still worked)
- 75g ground almonds
METHOD
How to make apple and walnut crumble
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Scatter the walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5-7 minutes, giving them a shake halfway through, until just beginning to colour and develop aroma. Leave to cool then chop very roughly. Leave the oven at 180°C/gas 4.
2. For the crumble, sift the flour and salt into a bowl (or food processor). Add the butter and rub in with your fingers (or pulse briefly in the processor) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the soft brown sugar, oatmeal and ground almonds. Squeeze a few handfuls of crumble in your fist to make lumps, which will give you a deliciously 'rocky' crumble.
3. Put the apples in a large bowl, sprinkle over the caster sugar (I also added the maple syrup and agave here) add the walnuts, cinnamon and mix. Transfer to a large baking dish (or in my case, a couple of small ones), packing down the apples and blackberries as much as you can.
4. Scatter the crumble over the top of the apples in a fairly even layer. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until browned on top. Serve hot, with cream, custard or ice cream (or eat the next day, cold, as your breakfast with milk or yoghurt... delish! - Even Luca - who is the fussiest of eaters - LOVED IT!!! Success...
I think this will be a recurring pudding in the winter days/months ahead... as we still have so many apples left, I need to find other "Apple Recipes" - perhaps APPLE RINGS will be my next culinary adventure?
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