Blackberry Crumble

 

BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE

In a LARGE soup pot combine

8 cups blackberries

1 cup brown sugar, packed 

3 tablespoons cornstarch

2 teaspoons cinnamon

Gently heat until it begins to thicken. Set aside. 

Allowing it to cool thickens it and makes it easier to use.

To make the crumble combine

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup white sugar

1 TSP cinnamon

Grate into the flour mixture

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) frozen, salted butter

As you grate, mix the butter into the flour.

When the butter is grated, using your hands, 

mix the butter into the flour until it is broken up but small bits remain.

Mix together

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large egg yolks

Stir well into the mixture

Add

2 -3 teaspoons apple cider vinegar- just enough for the dough to lightly clump together in most of the mix.

Press down about half of the flour mixture into an 8x13 glass casserole dish.

Tamp down to make a bottom pie crust. It need to be firm enough to not move when the fruit is added.

Top the bottom flour layer with all the fruit and their juices.

Add the remaining crumble mix in layers. First, add a light sprinkling all across the fruit. This will be the part which didn’t clump together that well. Then squeeze the flour mix together into small clumps and add a layer. Finally, with the remaining flour mix, make large clumps and add. The layers will give it a crisper top. The first, thin bottom layer will keep the fruit from bubbling up too much. There will be some fruit which does come through but for the most part you want a crisp, lightly crunchy crumble when baked.

Bake 375C for 35 minutes.

Remove from stove and lightly add some turbinado sugar across the top. 

Then sprinkle on a cinnamon sugar mix.

Use your judgement in how much. It’s meant to add a last thin layer of crunch and sweetness.

Return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

Allow to cool about half and hour which will let it set up nicely. Serve with vanilla ice cream. 

Lance loved the tartness of the berries and opted for whipped cream instead of the sweeter ice cream.

(Above) Peter picked several pounds of blackberries from the back yard. 

This is just one day of picking berries.

We had so many we had to freeze two thirds of the berries.

Unlike the store bought berries there were a lot of stems and leaves to pick out.

Another batch was used in a cobbler (below). In the earlier recipe I added lemon juice which took the tartness over the top. The crust for the cobbler was a sweetened pie crust mix with sugar substituting for some of the flour with extra butter to bind. It was rolled out as a dough and cut to weave across the top. While the cobbler crust did extend across the bottom and up the sides, which gave it a higher crust to berries ratio, which I prefer, the crumble set up better. The crumble was also a considerably sweeter crust. I think the remaining blackberries will be used in a mixed berry crumble with blueberries.