Bella's Blappleberry Crumble
Blackberry and Apple Crumble, Served with Fresh Custard
Bella’s fed up with the new floor at her local yoga studio — it’s so darn hard!
“Apple crumble is so simple.”
Bella, one of the characters in Limbericks, is so named in honour of my late Mother’s best friend who was known previously as Beryl back in the early days. Despite being virtually blind later on in life, Bella kept her fabulously dry sense of humour, On one occasion, she undertook a long train journey by herself for my Mother’s 80th Birthday celebration in Cornwall, daunting enough when the trip starts off at the busy Paddington Station, London. Bella was a source of inspiration and greatly admired — I’m not so sure that can be said for the fictitious character, Bella but you can’t go wrong with this comforting pudding.
Grease an ovenproof dish - approximately 9.5 inches x 7.5 9 (2-3” deep) [19.5 x 24 cm] 5 cm deep
2 lbs (908 g) Bramley (roughly 4) or Granny Smith Apples (5-6)
4-5 tablespoons water
¼ pint/5 fl oz (125 ml) natural orange juice
6 oz (170 g) plain flour (8 oz/225 g flour if not using the rolled oats)
2 oz (112 g) rolled oats (optional)
4 oz (140 g) butter
4 oz (114 g) granulated or caster sugar
1 dessertspoon Demerara sugar
Half a teaspoon each of cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg (optional)
Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC)
Lightly grease an oven-proof dish with butter. Core, peel and chop the apples into segments. Place the apples in a lidded pan with a little water (4-5 tablespoons) and gently simmer for approximately 8 minutes. Drain. Place the segments of apples in the dish and scatter the blackberries on top. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg if using. Pour over the orange juice. Put to one side to cool slightly.
Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into ½ inch/1 cm chunks and using hands, rub in until you are left with a pea-shaped crumbly texture, i.e. quite rough. Add the sugar and mix in well. Put in a container if space is lacking and place in the refrigerator to chill for half an hour.
Top the apple and blackberry with the crumble mix and sprinkle the surface with a little Demerara.
Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes at 375 ºF (190 ºC) or until the topping is lightly golden and crispy.
Fresh, Creamy Custard to accompany Bella’s Crumble
¾ pint, 12 fl oz (375 ml) Double or Heavy Cream
¾ pint, 12 fl oz (375 ml) Full cream milk
6 egg yolks
Vanilla sugar – 2-3 tablespoons, vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
Heat up the milk in a saucepan until very hot but not yet beginning to boil.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks together with the vanilla sugar in a large mixing bowl until creamy. You should see a ribbon trail as you draw the whisk across the surface.
Beating with a wooden spoon, pour the hot milk and cream gradually over the egg yolks until there is a smooth custard.
Now either place the mixing bowl over a pan of simmering water so that direct heat is avoided (although this is likely to be a much longer process) or pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook on a moderate heat. Using a thermometer, stir continuously until the temperature reaches 185ºF (85ºC) or until the custard coats the back of the wooden spoon.
This can take anything between five minutes and half an hour. On no account should the custard reach boiling point for this will cause the custard to curdle.
Eat while still warm or let cool by putting the base of the jug into a bowl with ice. The custard can be refrigerated for up to two days.
