Summer seems to be slipping through our fingers here in Ireland with such miserable and dreary weather. Already depressed after returning from a fabulous week in sunny southern Turkey, last night I needed something to snuggle up in front of the telly with. I decided to make myself a nice big bowl of serious comfort food. As if my holiday belly wasn't large enough ! Despite the fact that it feels like Winter, I went for a Summer berry and Granny Smith apple crumble. Crumble is one of my favourite desserts to rustle up due to its simplicity and effortless method - seriously- it doesn't get easier than this.
THE CRUMBLE TOPPING
260g Softened Butter
250g Granulated Brown Sugar
250g Plain Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch Nutmeg
3 tbsp Porridge Oats
Combine all the ingredients above in your mixing bowl on speed two using the paddle attachment. If you don't have a mixing bowl, simply use your hands to combine the mix.
In order to crumble the mix, pass the mix through wire mesh or a wire rack onto a flat baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake at 180C/350F/Gas4 for 5 minute intervals until a light shade of golden brown.
FRUIT COMPOTE
600g Frozen Summer Berries
6 Large Granny Smith Apples (peeled,cored and sliced)
2 Vanilla Beans (cut and scraped)
1 tbsp Ground Cinnamon
4 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
Put all of the ingredients above into a pot, allow to come to the boil and simmer for approximately 5 minutes. Remove the vanilla pods, then empty the compote into a large flat oven dish.
Make a mound of crumble on top of the compote (the bigger the mound the better !) Bake the crumble at 180C/350F/Gas4 for approximately 10 minutes until golden brown.
I usually make a citrus Chantilly cream to accompany this particular crumble but regular cream and vanilla ice-cream also go really well. If you're feeling adventurous, the recipe for the citrus Chantilly is as follows;
250g fresh cream
25g icing sugar
25g marscapone cheese
1/2 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Rind of one lemon
