Plum and blackberry crumble

Plum and blackberry crumble

Autumn

Blackberry and apple crumble is such a special pudding. It evokes so much for me. I’ll always enjoy making and eating it. But, occasionally, it’s good to shake things up a bit. So, when the apples aren’t looking, I like to bake the odd plum-and-blackberry crumble, too. Plums have such an incredible, rich flavour when you bake them and are stunning with blackberries. This one’s topped with an oat and hazelnut topping, which is particularly crunchy, making seconds all the more difficult to resist.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

  • about 1.5kg (3lb 5oz) ripe plums, halved and stoned
  • finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 100g (3½oz) caster (superfine) sugar
  • 2 tablespoons runny honey
  • 1 rosemary sprig, leaves picked and finely chopped (optional)
  • about 300g (10½oz) blackberries

For the crumble

  • 200g (7oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
  • 150g (5½oz) porridge oats (oatmeal)
  • 50g (1¾oz) hazelnuts, roughly chopped
  • 200g (7oz) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
  • 75g (2½oz) caster (superfine) sugar
  • 75g (2½oz) light brown soft sugar
  • a pinch of sea salt

Method

First, make the crumble. Heat the oven to 175°C/155°C fan/335°F/Gas 3–4. Combine all the crumble ingredients in a large bowl and rub them thoroughly together until you have formed clumps and lumps.

Line a large baking sheet with a piece of baking paper. Tip out the mixture on to the sheet and distribute it evenly. Pop the tray in the middle of the oven and bake the crumble for 25–30 minutes, turning the mixture over three or four times during baking, until clumped together, biscuity and golden.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Arrange the halved plums, cut-side up, in a large baking dish. Sprinkle over the lemon zest and sugar and trickle over the honey. If you like the idea of using a hint of rosemary with the plums, scatter the chopped leaves over now. Place the dish of plums in the oven and cook until they just start to soften (about 10–25 minutes, depending on the variety and ripeness of the plums). If there’s lots and lots of plum juice, spoon this off into a pan, reduce it by three-quarters and put it back over the fruit. If there’s not much juice, simply skip this process altogether.

Scatter the blackberries over the plums. Give everything a very gentle stir, so as not to break up the fruit too much, then spoon the crumble mixture on top in a nice, even layer. Return the dish to the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the plum and blackberry juices are bubbling away and the crumble is golden and irresistible.

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