Blackberry and Orange Crumble
Crumble (/cobbler) is the dessert of my childhood. And blackberry picking was our summer activity before ‘foraging’ was cool. (Thanks Granny!) We’d put on wellies, long trousers, grab an umbrella with a round handle for hooking branches and head out with buckets.
It keeps well in the fridge, and is really so easy to make. It’s always a winner for feeding a crowd. You can adjust it seasonally for whatever fruit you have – peaches, apples, blackberries, gooseberries, rhubarb… basically anything!
FRUIT:
You really can cook the fruit in whatever combo you want, blackberries go well with apples, or alone and I love them with orange. If you don’t have many then combining with apples is a great way to bulk them out for a cobbler.
I used blackberries (about 8 cups freshly picked) and orange and cooked the blackberries on a low heat with NO liquid but the zest and flesh of an orange, 1/2 cup 100% fruit marmalade, and then extra honey to taste – blackberries vary a lot! Simmer the pot on low with the lid off until the juice is released and reduced a little. Then for about 8 cups berries I used 1/3-1/2 cup arrowroot starch to thicken. Take out 1/2-1 cup of the blackberry liquid and mix in the arrowroot starch. Mix it vigorously until there are no lumps left. It will go very thick. Add a bit more liquid in to loosen it, then transfer the whole thickened liquid back into the main pot. Mix it in thoroughly and then heat the pot up again till it just hits a boil and starts to thicken before turning it off. Re-taste and add more marmalade/honey as needed – you have to do the flavours to taste cos the fruit is all so different! .
TOPPING:
For the cobbler topping I blended:
1 heaped cup dates
1T cinnamon
1.5 heaped cups mixed cashews/almonds
1/3 cup raw coconut oil
Blended until they’re still chunky but well chopped, mixed and an even size. Then add in 2 cups rolled oats and continue to blend till they’re just incorporated. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in 1 cup rolled oats but don’t blend them in, just mix the with a spoon.
ASSEMBLY:
Pour the fruit into an 8×12 (or whatever size) dish so that it’s about an inch deep. Evenly spread the topping on. Drizzle with honey and add some bigger chopped nuts for texture – I used some walnuts. Pop the whole thing in the oven at 350°F for 20-30 mins until it bubbles!
Spoon it out and tuck in with a big scoop of real food vanilla ice cream (paleo/df recipe in The Whole Scoop ebook).
