Crumble's are wonderfully helpful desserts.  They provide a deliciously substantial end to a meal without requiring much effort or any skill at all.  There are so many scrumptious combinations for a crumble but this one does pull at my heartstrings.  This is what I ate when I grew up, just as most Brits did and I'm sure still do.  Apples from the garden and blackberries picked while walking the dogs. 

I found some organic frozen blackberries in the supermarket the other day.  I'll admit it's not quite the same as plucking them from the English hedgerows, but I thought I would go in for a little nostalgia and create the dessert (or pudding as we say in England) of my childhood.  I'm quite sure my mother never put in any vanilla extract or lemon zest in her crumbles but they always tasted delicious.

Of course if you're going to be proper about this, you should really serve it with custard, but after living in the US for so long, even I'm leaning towards a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Here's what you'll need for the easiest and most satisfying crumble:

1, 15 oz bag of frozen organic blackberries (if you can find fresh which haven't been coated in some ghastly pesticide, so much the better)

4-6 apples (depending on size) peeled, cored and chopped

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

Juice and zest of a lemon

2 tablespoon of sugar

1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch (leave out if you're using fresh blackberries)

For the topping

1 /14 cup of all purpose flour

1/3 cup of sugar (brown is lovely)

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter (diced)

1 teaspoon of baking powder.

Heat the oven to 350F

Peel, core and cut the apples, place in a bowl with the blackberries, lemon zest and juice, sugar and cornstarch.  Mix together gently and let sit while you prepare the topping.

In another large bowl place all the ingredients for the topping.  Rub the butter into the the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Pour the fruit mixture into an pie dish and cover with the topping.

Place on a baking dish and cook in the oven for 50 minutes to an hour, until the crumble looks golden and the juices are bubbling up over the sides.

Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes and serve, either traditionally with custard or cream, or in the American style with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.