Ah! Crumble. The classic summer dessert, it’s particularly fantastic made with gooseberries because the tart fruit off-sets the sweet crumble topping.
In this twist on the classic recipe, Nigel Slater adds almonds to the crumble to give it a subtle lift, as well as oats for an extra bite. We served the warm crumble with award-winning Marybelle creme fraiche from the farm shop – the velvety texture smoothes out crumble crunch.
In this test, we used red dessert gooseberries that fruit later in the season than green gooseberries. They’re naturally sweeter than regular green gooseberries and so you can omit the extra sugar from this recipe.
Tip when using frozen fruit: shake the frozen gooseberries in a zip-lock bag, to easily remove the tops and tails (the little spike and flower base at either end of gooseberry).
Another favourite crumble in our house is rhubarb and strawberry. Again, adding the sweet strawberries to the tart rhubarb filling means you don’t need to add sugar to the fruit before cooking. Delicious!
Ingredients
- 650 g gooseberries, top and tailed
- 4 tbsp caster sugar (optional, depending on fruit)
- a knob of butter
For the crumble topping:
- 150 g plain flour
- 80 g butter, cut into small cubes
- 50 g ground almonds
- 70 g caster sugar
- 75 g rolled oats
Directions
- Set the oven at 200 C. Grease the baking dish with a little butter.
- To make the crumble, rub the butter into the flour until it the texture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Stir in almonds, caster sugar, and oats.
- Spread the fruit in an even layer in the baking dish, then add the sugar (if using), butter and a few tablespoons of water.
- Top the fruit with an even layer of the crumble topping.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until the crumble topping is crisp and golden, and the cooked fruit bubbles up.
- Serve hot, with cream, creme fraiche, custard, or ice-cream.
