September in England is the best time to gather blackberries (brambles) from the hedgerows and fields. Such delicious and free wild fruits are one of the few truly seasonal pleasures left to us in these days of year-round availability of produce from the supermarkets.
Blackberries and apple are a marriage made in heaven: redolent of autumn and truly delicious. Stewed together with a little water and sugar, they are delicious with cream, plain yoghurt or ice cream, or you can bake the mixture in pastry for a traditional blackberry and apple pie. But best of all is a crumble:
Rub 75 g of butter or margarine into 300g of plain flour. Stir in 2-3 tbspns sugar to taste, and 2 tbspns flaked or rolled oats. If you like the taste, add 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.
Peel, core and slice 2 large or 3 small apples. Add about 100-150g washed and picked-over blackberries to the apples. Sweeten to taste (I prefer it on the sharp side to contrast with the crumble, so about 2 tbspns sugar is plenty), and put in an overproof dish.
Spread the crumble mix over the top, and cook in a moderate oven (gas mark 3, 160°C) for about an hour, till the fruit is soft and the top starts to brown. Perfect with icecream, custard, or if you are lucky like me and live in the West Country, clotted cream!
21/09/06 @ 11:21