I grew up on my mother's blackberry and apple crumble (apples picked from the garden and blackberries picked from the hedgerows). I've grown into a bit of a crumble queen, and who can blame me, it's SO easy and QUICK. Although I would love to spend all day pottering around the kitchen in a state of domestic bliss, reality is a very different picture. I've got lacrosse practices, singing lessons, gymnastic meets and multiple piles of homework to contend with, and when I'm busy contending, crumbles are ENORMOUSLY forgiving.
You can use just about any fruit you've got hanging around and you can prepare the bottom and the top in advance, so all you need to do is sprinkle the crumble topping on before baking. Or just bake the whole thing in advance and be done with it. It warms up beautifully. Honestly, what's not to LOVE about a crumble. This combination is my current favourite. My children eat this for breakfast (think about all that healthy fruit they're getting) and my husband asks for this instead of a chocolate birthday cake - imagine! Heat the oven to 375 Fruit Mixture 4-5 ripe pears, Bosc or Bartlett would be fine
1, 10z package of organic frozen raspberries
1/3 cup of brown sugar (I use sucanant)
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of all purpose flour Topping

6 oz of butter, diced
1 cup of oats
1 /14 cup of all purpose flour
1/3 cup of brown sugar (sucanant)
pinch of salt


Combine the fruit mixture ingredients into a large bowl, stir and let sit while you prepare the topping.
In another large bowl mix the oats, flour, sugar and salt and then rub in the diced butter until the mixture looks like large breadcrumbs, make sure the mixture is well rubbed in, even if your fingers start to ache, otherwise your topping will be floury and not uniformly buttery and delicious. Pour the fruit mixture into a baking dish, I use an oval about 10"x 8"x 2 1/2. Place the dish on a baking tray (this is important as the juices will probably bubble over the side and you don't want them burning in your oven). Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour until golden and crisp. Cool for at least 10 minutes and serve alone, with vanilla ice cream, custard or a drizzle of cream. What are your favourite fruit crumble combinations??