Before you say anything, here’s a spoiler: this is a failed attempt! I know…how can one ruin a crumble. Not to worry though, because I did it. I’ve been awarded the champion spaced-out idiot of the century; what a laugh.

Are you a crumble or cobbler person? Can’t decide? I know…the decision is always a tough one but I can safely say crumbles are the mighty winner most of the time.

Cobblers are an American fruit dessert, cooked in a deep-dish, it has a pie-crust top layer as opposed to a crumble layer. The pie-crust top can be cooked till it’s almost like a biscuit top, crispy and sweet or cakey like and it’s very easy for you to control the texture of this top layer. Crumbles are the British side of things and constitute a crumble topping, as the name suggests, usually made with graham biscuit or cookie crumbs, flour, nuts, oats, bread crumbs and even muesli. A very popular dish, it’s a slap and whack type of recipe and scores a 10 for its flexibility as well. Use any type of fruit you’ve got available because it still gives an awesome flavour. Also, this recipe is great for using brown sugar and lots of nuts and wholesome wheaty goodness.

Apples and summerberries are definitely a good, sweet combination. I’ve used a mix of raspberries, blackberries, black and red currants. Instead of using a mix, you can opt for your favourite fruit or combination of fruit. I added some sultanas as well to give it a warmer flavour, seems like it worked out well. Preparing this dish was a joy - easy to prepare and so colourful. A setback, however, was my topping - the key feature! Spacey as I was, I started pressing the topping down with the back of a spoon. It must have been the inner cobbler-girl calling out from within, thereby ruining my crumble topping completely. Tasted great but it just wasn’t quite the perfect crumble. I feel like I’ve shot myself in the foot somehow.

Nevertheless, this is once again another completed kitchen ‘adventure’ by diva, so let’s not be shy and file this in with the rest too.

I used to pester a good friend of mine in college for apple crumble every single week because she made this impeccably great apple filling. In exchange for her culinary delights, I baked her favourite M&M cookies and made sure I brought round a good supply of it for each council meeting. Good times those were. I still miss her apple crumble, as I’ve not kept in touch for about 2 years now. And everytime I think of crumble, I’ll think of her and that wicked crumble-skill of hers.

This recipe has been adapted from one of Delia Smith’s. It serves about 6 in one deep-dish.
Tip from Anna: be very careful when crumb topping starts to brown as the moment it has cooked and you are waiting for this to become the perfect brown, crispy, crumb topping, it can easily burn in a blink of an eye.

Apple & Summerberry Crumble
Ingredients

500g mixed berries
1 golden delicious apple, chopped
1/4 cup sultanas
1 tbs sugar
For the crumb topping:
225g plain flour
110g butter, cut into small cubes (I recommend using regular butter rather than unsalted)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
75g brown sugar (I’ve used demerera)

Preheat oven to 180d Celsius.
Arrange fruit in an oven deep-dish and sprinkle sugar over.
Rub butter into flour till crumb-like. Stir in sugar and cinnamon and pour over the fruit. Spread out with a FORK and do not press down with a SPOON. This is my queue for a shake of the head and a loud, regretful sigh.
Place on top shelf in oven and bake 40-50min.

Serve with pouring cream, ice cream or custard.