Make the most of seasonal blackberries with this easy blackberry crumble recipe. Top with vegan vanilla ice cream or custard for a traditional British pudding.
Yes, it's still blackberry season! Depending on the location of the blackberry bush, wild blackberries can be found in hedgerows until mid October. Collecting blackberries along the hedgerows is one of life’s simple pleasures, and it’s even more satisfying when you make a delicious dessert with your foraged fruit. If you’re new to foraging, blackberries are the good fruit to start with as they have no poisonous look-alikes. The crumble has got to be one of the easiest desserts to make, and it’s almost impossible to go wrong.
How does it taste?
A warm and bubbly blackberry compote is topped with a flapjack style crumble topping. The addition of the oats and demerara sugar makes the topping extra crispy. Sweet, warm berries and a crispy topping – what’s not to love about that?!
How to forage for Blackberries
Head to your local forest or nature reserves and look for blackberries along riversides and lakes or in unkept areas, They thrive in full sun, but can also be found along partially shaded areas. You’ll notice that blackberry bushes found under direct sunlight will ripen sooner than the ones that are partially shaded. You can forage for blackberries without hesitation and fear they have no poisonous look-alikes, so it’s the perfect place to start if you’re new to foraging.
Tips for Blackberry foraging
Wear a long-sleeved shirt, trousers and comfy shoes for picking the blackberries. The stems have thorns so you’ll end up with a few scratches on your arms and legs if they aren’t covered.
Wear washing up gloves when picking the berries to prevent getting scratches on your hands.
Put the berries in bowl rather than a bag to prevent them from getting squished.
Don’t pick too low down (you wouldn’t want to eat the blackberries that dogs and other animals might have urinated on)
Wild or shop-bought Blackberries?
If you know an area where wild blackberries grow, then it's worth going foraging for them as it's so much more satisfying when you know the produce you've used is 100% seasonal and organic. If you don't intend on going foraging, by all means, you can use shop-bought blackberries, but you'll need to purchase a large quantity to make this blackberry pie.
Freezing Blackberries?
If you find that you’ve picked more blackberries than you need, you can freeze then and use them for another recipe. Freezing blackberries is the easiest way to preserver them and there is no real loss of quality on thawing and cooking.
How to store Blackberry Crumble
This blackberry crumble is best eaten on the day its baked, as the crumble topping will lose its crispness the longer it’s left to wait. If you’re not serving it right away, you can store it for 2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. I wouldn’t suggest storing it in the fridge as this case cause the crumble to become too hard.
Can this Crumble be frozen?
This blackberry crumble is best eaten on the day its baked, as the crumble topping will lose its crispness the longer it’s left to wait. If you’re not serving it right away, you can store it for 2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature. I wouldn’t suggest storing it in the fridge as this case cause the crumble to become too hard.
Blackberry Crumble ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need for this recipe – consider it your shopping list!
For the crumble topping: Plain flour: Make sure to use plain flour and not elf raising flour. You could use wholemeal flour to make the crumble.
Sugar: I’ve used white granulated sugar, but you can use any sugar of your choice, Dark or light brown sugar also work well and add a nice caramel flavour to the crumble.
Vegan block butter: I used the Flora vegan butter block, but ant plant-based butter will do. + I wouldn’t recommend using margarine as it won’t create the same outcome.
Cinnamon: A bit of ground cinnamon add a loves flavour and aroma to the crumble, but if you’re not a fan of cinnamon, you can omit this ingredient.
Oats: you’ll need rolled oats. The oats help to give the crumble extra crispness.
Demerara Sugar: This ingredient is optional, but I find that when you sprinkle some demerara sugar over the crumble before baking, it adds a lovely crisp texture and gives a lovely golden colour after it’s been baked.
For the blackberry compote:
Blackberries: You'll need 700g fresh or frozen blackberries.
Sugar: you'll need some granulated sugar to sweeten the blackberries. You could also use dark drown sugar but it will give a subtle caramel flavour. Lemon juice: The lemon juice helps to balance out the sweetness and also brings out the tartness of the apples.
Vanilla extract: The vanilla extract gives the custard a lovely flavour and aroma.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch is used to thicken the blackberry compote. if you don't have cornstarch, you can use tapioca starch instead.
Cinnamon: you'll need some cinnamon to flavout the blackberry compote.
To serve:
Ice cream:
How to make blackberry Crumble
This has got to be one of the easiest desserts to make. Here how:
STEP 1:
Preheat the oven to 180°c (160 fan/ Gas 4). Wash the blackberries and drain well. Place the blackberries, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and lemon juice into a medium oven dish and give them a gentle mix. Place in the oven to bake for about 10 minutes while to prepare the crumble topping.
STEP 2:
To make the crumble topping, put the plain flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon and chilled butter in a mixing bowl, and rub the butter into the flour and oats using your fingertips to make a light breadcrumb texture. Do not overwork it or the crumble will become heavy.
STEP 3:
Take the blackberry compote out of the oven and spoon the crumble mixture onto the fruit and place in the oven to bake for another 25-30 minutes until golden. Serve warm with a scoop of vegan ice cream or a vegan custard.
How to serve Blackberry Crumble
This blackberry crumble tastes delicious on its own, but to make it taste even better serve it will vegan ice cream or custard.
Notes and Tips
I'd recommend using the gram measurements, rather than the cup conversions. When it comes to baking, accuracy is key, and cups conversions are never as accurate as grams.
For a crispy crumble topping, don’t overwork the crumble and make sure to use chilled butter.
Scatter 1 tbsp demerara sugar over the crumble topping to make it extra crispy.