Apple, Blackberry and Elderberry Crumble

Hi again, I didnt have enough time to finish the coverage of the Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival because I had to go to scouts- playing capture the flag in the pouring rain- lots of fun! Anyway, this was the second dish I demo'ed at the festival- Apple, Blackberry and Elderberry Crumble.
This dish is great served fresh out of the oven with ice cream or custard. All the fruit can be foraged in most hedgerows and this time of year- even though its coming to the end of the season- there is still an abundance of these great, and free, fruits. Over the summer, it is rutine for us all to spend a sunday afternoon picking fruit. Elderberries arent used that often, but when cooked correctly they taste great. However, large quantities raw can upset your stomach so make sure you cook them to bubbling point so the toxins boil off. They hang in large clusters and are commonly seen in parks and woods. They have thin, feather like leaves and grow on purpley-green fronds.

Ingredients-

3 Large Apples- such as cox or bramley- chopped and peeled

100g Blackberries

2 Handfuls of Elderberries

300g Plain Flour

150g Unsalted Butter
75g Golden Catser Sugar
75g Demerara Sugar- this gives the topping a nice golden colour
3tbsp Oats- most people have oats in their cupboard and they add a nice crunch
1tsp Grated orange zest

Preheat an oven to 180'c. Now, genbtly heat the apples in a saucepan with a splash of water until soft, but not mushy. Rub the butter and flour together with your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugars, oats and orange zest with the butter and flour. When the apples are starting to soften, stir in the elderberries and heat until the juice runs out of them and starts to boil. When bubbling, mix in the blackberries and spoon into a baking dish. Spoon over the crumble topping and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown and crispy.

This dish is great served with ice cream, by itself or- if your weird like me- with natural yogurt. But I dont think anything goes with crumble like custard. Custard is incredibly easy to make and is really quick. Why not try making this simple custard that can be whipped together in about 10 minutes?

Ingredients-
300ml Double Cream
200ml Milk
3 Eggs
1 Split Vanilla Pod
1 Cinamon Stick
75g Caster Sugar

Start by heating the milk, cream, vanilla pod and cinamon stick over a gently heat until steaming and nearly boiling. Whisk the eggs and cream together. Remove the vanilla pod and scrape out the vanilla with a spoon and stir into the milk and cream. Remove the cinamon stick and whisk the milk and cream into the eggs and sugar. Now you must reheat the custard. You should always make sure when reheating custard that the pan is clean. I you dont clean the pan that had milk and cream in it, the milk and cream stuck to the sides will burn quickly and ruin the taste of your custard. So, in a fresh pan, reheat the custard over a gentle heat so the eggs gently cook. To make sure the eggs dont scramble, stir constantly. Heat until steaming and nearly boiling then pour over your puds.
If the custard starts to scramble, pour the custard through a fine seive to separate the lumps from the liquid.

thats it for now,
Sam.