Crumbly Blackberry Traybake

I try and buy things in season, but the punnets of shiny blackberries caught my eye this week, so I bought some. I know they have air miles, but nobody's perfect!

I love tray bakes,and I got the idea for this one from this Good Food site recipe.

It seems to be fashionable at the moment to add crumble tops to cakes and muffins, and I think it gives a great contrast of textures to a cake.I like my crumble a bit clumpy, not too much like breadcrumbs.

115g butter, softened

175g caster sugar
1 egg
280g sr flour
125ml milk
200g blackberries

Crumble topping:
115g caster sugar
85g pl flour
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
50g butter

Preheat oven 180C/gas4. 

Butter an oblong cake tin.

Beat sugar and butter together till pale and fluffy.Beat in the egg, then fold in flour and milk and mix well. Spoon into tin and sprinkle the blackberries over the top.

The crumble - mix sugar,flour and lemon rind together then rub in butter till you have large crumbs,then sprinkle over blackberries.
Bake for about 45 mins 

When cake is cool, cut into squares.

You could use other fruits instead of blackberries, and I'm going to make it again with blueberries.

I love the crunchy crumble, then the soft fruit and then the soft sponge.It would be great with some ice cream or creme fraiche as a dessert.

French pear crumble

I love crumbles of any kind, but this one has become my new love. Pears are one of my favourite fruit, so this recipe was a must try. It came from my French friend, as 'les crumbles' are very fashionable in France too. She likes trying out new flavour combinations and the ones she uses here are very different.
When cooked, pears always seem to go mushy, but cooked in this way, they seem to hold their texture.
It's also a new way of making a crumble - sprinkling it onto pear halves, instead of onto sliced or quartered pears.

You need:
for the crumble:
100g flour
80g soft brown sugar
1/2 tspn ginger
80g butter + about 20g to grease the dish
1 tspn soluble coffee

for the rest:
4 pears
50g sultanas or raisins
30g butter

Preheat oven 180C/gas 4

Put the sultanas or raisins in a bowl of warm water and leave them to soak for about 2 hours.

To make the crumble - put the flour in a bowl, add the ginger, sugar, coffee and the butter cut into pieces. Rub the butter in till you have breadcrumbs - not too fine.
Wash the pears, cut each in half and take out the core.Melt the 30g of butter and coat the pears with it.
Butter a gratin dish and put the pears, skin sides down into the dish and cook for 15mins in the oven, then take them out.
Drain the fruit. Sprinkle the crumble mixture over each pear half and add some of the fruit.
Cook for 20 mins till the crumble is golden and serve the pears warm.

The crumble topping was delicious - I loved the subtle hints of coffee and ginger. This has made me want to try out other flavours in a crumble mix. The pear was soft but not squishy - a great way to cook it.
Another recipe I'll be making again.

Rhubarb crumble muffins

I've posted muffin recipes several times, adapting my favourite recipe. I made a rhubarb tart yesterday, and had enough rhubarb left to make some muffins.
I wanted to make something different, but having looked online and not been inspired, I decided to adapt my old faithful recipe  We love rhubarb crumble, so muffins with rhubarb and crumble sound ideal. I usually make the crumble with half oats and half flour, and I use oil instead of butter in the muffins. A healthier option! I used soft light brown sugar instead of my usual caster.

For the crumble topping:

50g butter,
50g plain flour
25g porridge oats
50g demerara sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the muffins:

225g self-raising flour
100g soft light brown sugar
1 medium egg, beaten
250ml milk
120ml sunflower or rapeseed oil
200g rhubarb, sliced lengthways and chopped
2 tbspn cold water
50g caster sugar
icing sugar [opt]


Preheat oven to 200C/gas mark 6.
Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.

 Crumble - rub the butter into the plain flour and oats till mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Add the sugar and cinnamon, mix again and set aside.

 Muffins - sift the flour into a bowl, add the brown sugar and mix.
Whisk together the egg, milk and sunflower oil.
In another bowl mix the chopped rhubarb with the caster sugar and the cold water.
Add the egg, milk and oil to the flour and brown sugar. Add the rhubarb mixture and stir to mix. Don't over mix.
Divide between the muffin cases, and then sprinkle over the crumble mix, pressing it gently into place.
Bake for 20-25 minutes. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes then move to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle over some icing sugar.

These were delicious - lovely and moist from the rhubarb and not too sweet. Home made muffins are a world away from the shop-bought ones. They have a different texture, and are not so dry, but some people prefer the shop ones - my older daughter is one of these. The shop ones look very tempting, and are much bigger than the home-made ones - but the taste is, imho, greatly inferior.

Cranberry and apple crumble pie

One of out favourite desserts is a crumble, so thought I'd try out this recipe as it's a crumble pie.

175g oats
150g plain flour
125g brown sugar
1/2tspn bicarbonate of soda
175g butter or margarine, melted
2 large cooking apples, peeles, cored and sliced
75g dried cranberries
1 tspn cinnamon
1 tbspn lemon juice

Preheat oven 190C/375F/gas5

Grease a 20cm springform cake tin or metal pie dish.

Mix together the oats, flour, sugar and bicarb. in a bowl then stir in the melted fat. Mix together well.

Press 2/3 of this mix into the bottom and sides of the tin or dish.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together - the apples, cranberries lemon juice and cinnamon. Spoon this into the crumble base keeping away from the sides of the tin or dish.
Starting at the edge and working into the middle, cover with the rest of the crumble. Then firm around the edges to seal the top to the sides.
Bake for 30 mins till golden.

What a great idea this is! I love a crumble topping, so having a pie of it is even better! You could, of course, use any fruit you fancied.