Mixed Berry Crumble

I have experimented with a few different apple crumble recipes. They are all very delicious. But this time I’m trying something new – I’m going to turn all my leftover strawberries and blueberries into mixed berry crumbles, yummy!

Making crumbles is pretty easy, and the ingredients are readily available too. They are always best served warm, so what happens when you’ve made so much? You can cover it loosely with cling film and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or wrap in an airtight container and freeze for up to 5 months.

Note that with frozen crumbles, you’d need to thaw before reheating, and this is done either by letting it thaw in the fridge overnight or on a table for 3-4 hours before use.

Reheating is so straightforward. All you need to do is pop single servings into the microwave for a bit until it’s all warmed, or place leftovers in the oven at 180°C for 15 minutes. It tastes just as fresh, and dry crusts can be remedied by drizzling melted butter over it, before reheating.

Here are a few more tips for making the perfect fruit crumble:

1. Bake in moderate heat (180˚C) to allow the fruit to break down properly into delicious goodness. Some fruits are bulkier than others though, and so would require cutting up into tinier bits.

2. Never leave out the thickening agent. Plain flour is my go-to thickener for fruit crumbles.

3. Get creative with toppings. The usual ones are oats, flour, butter, and brown sugar. However, you can add nuts, seeds, spice and herbs.

4. You need a little acid to even out the taste. I’m using lemon in this recipe.

5. Use the right baking dish to avoid separation of toppings and fruit fillings.

The perfect fruit crumble should taste nothing short of heavenly.

Ingredients

400g mixed berries
35g granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp plain flour

For the crumble

150g plain white flour
Pinch of salt
75g granulated sugar
100g unsalted butter, softened in room temperature for 15 mins

Method

Preheat oven to 190˚C.

In a large bowl, combine berries, sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Add plain flour and toss to coat berries. Transfer to a baking dish or oven-safe skillet.

Crumble: In a bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar.

Cut in the butter and using hands, rub the butter into the flour mixture until large crumbs form.

Sprinkle mixture over top of berries to completely cover. This recipe should make more than enough crumble.

Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Remove from oven and let stand for about 5 minutes. Serve warm.