Make a Crumble

Crumble is a British tradition that came over to the colonies with the early settlers. It is a deep dish berry concoction consisting of a filling and a topping that is quick to make, tasty, and somewhat nutritious. This recipe fills a 1.5 liter casserole and takes about 2.5 hours to make without a hound helping.

In theory, this desert (or breakfast served over Chobani Yogurt) can be good for you as it is rich in antioxidants but it also contains 30 ml of sugar and a 30 grams of butter per serving.

References

1. https://www.tasteslovely.com/triple-berry-crumble-made-with-frozen-fruit/

Construction

I know, it is an Internet recipe so it has to be right? Not! But this one is one the reference author makes regularly and there are many like it. This recipe is assembled in three passes, gathering, making filling and making toping. Then it is baked and cooled.

Tools and Ingredients

It is always a good idea to marshal your tools and ingredients before starting a bake. This simple precaution prevents prevents greyhound predation of half-made crumble while baker is running about the shops like an idiot looking for missing ingredients.

Notes on measurement

This recipe is given in metric units but the equivalents are easy. The equivalents are approximate but preserve ingredient ratios.

• 1 cup regular English measure is 250 ml metric measure
• 1 quart regular English measure is 1 liter metric measure
• 1 tablespoon is 15 milliliters metric measure

Tools and vessels

Put the oven on to preheat at 350 F using bake setting. If convection, you’re on your own. Ours is a basic oven without the convection feature. Temperature is the one you’d use for Sunday roast. I don’t know the EU/UK equivalent. Before automatic controls, this was called a moderate oven.

• 1.5 quart or 1.5 liter casserole with cover (keeps canine noses out) Cover will be used for storage also.
• Large mixing spoon
• 1 cup measuring cup (or 1/4 liter)
• 2 cup or 1/2 liter measuring cup for berry measuring
• 1 tablespoon or 15 ml measure for flour and lemon juice
• pastry making cutting in tool or a flap jack flipper

Filling ingredients

All measurement may be approximate. There are no critical ratios to be maintained here.

• 1000 ml (1 liter) berries
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour (all purpose but bread flour is OK)
• Splash of lemon juice or zest from one lemon (essential)
• A twist of salt (optional)

On my first try at cobbler filling, I left out the lemon juice. It proved to be essential in taming the sweetness of the berry mixture and moderating the tartness of the berries. If you don’t have a lemon or a lemon zesting tool handy, use about a tablespoon or so of lemon juice (bottled is OK).

Topping Ingredients

As with the filling, there are no critical ratios here. You may measure the flour by volume, weighing is not needed as flour ratio is not critical.

For brown sugar, you can use the boxed kind. It is fine grain white sugar to which molasses has been applied. Or you can use raw sugar (granular sugar with the molasses left in). I prefer the latter but the topping may be a bit gritty crunchy because of the larger crystals in the raw sugar.

• 250 ml of uncooked oatmeal (Bob’s old fashioned thick rolled before it becomes porridge here)
• 125 ml of raw sugar (brown granular kind)
• 6 Tbs flour or about 60 ml.
• 1 stick (1/2 block of Irish) butter. I used salted and skipped the added salt in the filling.

Get the butter out early, separate the part you need and cut into pats while firm. Allow to soften away from the food-thieving monster shown above. I put mine in the microwave as he can’t work the door release.

Procedure

1. Make filling first. Combine all of the ingredients and stir up.
2. Make the toping second. Stir together all dry ingredients. Cut the butter into pats and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutting in tool or a flapjack flipper. Be patient about this as the more uniform, the more the topping will hold together. This is not as fussy as making pie dough.
3. Place the filling into the casserole. Layer the topping on the top. Spread out as best you can. Precision is not needed. It’s not a cake.
4. Bake for 1 hour at 350 uncovered so the filling will thicken.
5. Cover and place in the fridge to cool for 1 hour.

Serving Suggestiions

As far as I know, this is dog safe. Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries, butter, sugar, flour, are all generally regarded as safe for dogs.

I’ve served this neat, and over Chobani vanilla Greek yogurt (the thick, tart, non-fat kind), and the recipe’s original author suggests over vanilla ice cream.

I find that 1 4 oz serving spoon is a good serving size. This appears to give 4 to 5 per bake.