My favorite thing to do with crumbles is to pick out the crunchy, buttery clusters that sit on top. The bigger the better! 😉 Don’t you think? Crumbles are such a hearty, soulful dessert that feel like your belly has just been given a nice warm hug. I love the contrast of crunchy topping together with the soft stewed fruit.
Whilst the fruit base is quite a traditional combination, my topping is a little bit unique. As I mentioned, I love a good crunch, so the addition of almonds, coconut and oats help to do that. I love the quantities of this recipe as it makes a good amount of crumble.
If you can’t get your hands on blackberries, blueberries or raspberries will work too. I loved watching the deep crimson, dark purple juices from the blackberries bubbling out from under the crumble. A sign of a delicious, rustic crumble begging to be eaten. If you cannot find cooking apples, regular apples will work, however they are naturally sweeter than cooking apples so you could probably reduce the sugar quantities if you prefer. I know the topping isn’t a traditional combination, but trust me, it is delicious and with the added goodness from the almonds and coconut. Serve with a generous drizzle of cream or natural yoghurt, I guarantee you will be scooping out seconds.
Below is the recipe, get stuck in!
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- 5 cooking apples – peeled
- 2 cups blackberries (use other fresh berries if you choose)
- 5 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 1/3 cup of water
- 1/2 cup whole almonds – roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup desiccated coconut
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1 cup of plain flour
- 120g unsalted COLD butter
- A pinch of salt
- Pre-heat the oven to 180℃.
- Peel, core and slice the apples into eighths. Place them into a saucepan with two tablespoons of sugar, a cinnamon stick, star anise and water. Cover the saucepan and cook for 3 minutes (you dont want them too soft, just enough to cut some of the bitterness from the apples).
- Remove the cinnamon stick and star anise and place the apples (without the liquid) in a baking dish. Add the blackberries and give them a very gentle stir.
- In a separate bowl, add the chopped almonds, coconut, two tablespoons of sugar, salt, flour and oats and mix till evenly dispersed.
- Cut the cold butter into small cubes (about 1.5cm) and using your fingertips, pinch the dry ingredients into the butter until no flour is left without a yellow tinge. Make sure there are still several clusters of butter scattered through the mixture about the size of an almond. (These are my favorite bits!)
- Scatter the crumble mixture evenly of the top of the fruit and sprinkle an optional tablespoon of sugar over the top of it all.
- Bake in the oven for approximately 50 minutes at 180℃ or until cooked to your liking.
