Kilbryde Bramble and Apple Crumble

Hot Pudding Recipe with Wild Blackberries, Windfall Apples and Oats

Oct 5, 2008 Susan Morris

Warm fresh blackberries and apple under a crisp oat crumble is a comforting hot pudding for colder evenings. Here's an tasty crumble recipe with stunning textures.

Hot fruit crumble is a versatile pudding. The following recipe has provenance from home cooking in Scotland.

Kilbryde Bramble and Apple Crumble includes Scottish oats, home-grown apples from a Scottish garden plus blackberries grown wild in Kilbryde, near Doune and Dunblane, Scotland.

Kilbryde Bramble and Apple Crumble Recipe

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

450g or 1 lb brambles or freshly picked local blackberries
3 large cooking apples
75g or 3 oz caster sugar
275g or 10oz plain wholemeal flour
75g or 3 oz Scottish rolled oats
100g or 4 oz soft light brown sugar
150g or 5oz butter

Directions:

Prepare the blackberries, if collected as wild bramble, by separating and washing the aggregate fruits as shown in the photographs below.
Peel, core and chop the cooking apples into cubes.
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
Stew the blackberries and apples together in the caster sugar and a small amount of water for 10 minutes.
Pour the stewed fruits into a shallow pie-dish or individual ramekins.
To make the crumble topping, rub together the light brown sugar and the wholemeal flour until a crumbs texture.
Then add the rolled oats and soft light brown sugar to the topping mixture and mix the ingredients until balanced. Scottish oats in this recipe can be substituted with oatmeal for a softer texture.
Spoon the crumble topping over the stewed blackberries and apples.
Bake in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on cook’s preferences for crunchy texture. The topping should be golden brown before serving warm.

About the Kilbryde Bramble and Apple Crumble Recipe

Blackberries were gathered from a hedgerow in the wild when cycling on a Doune and Dunblane community path to Kilbryde. Sights en route included the baronial Kilbryde Castle, Kilbryde Chapel and Argaty Red Kites from Lerrocks Farm, Doune Scotland.

These wild blackberries from Kilbryde, hedgerow fruits known as bramble in Scotland, were an essential ingredient in the creation on this recipe. Cooks are encouraged to use their own local freshly picked blackberries in making a blackberry and apple crumble.

When using fresh blackberries in cooking hot puddings and desserts, cooks should take great care when adding sugar to ensure that a pudding is sweet while allowing the natural flavours of cooked seasonal fruits to flourish in a dish.

Alternative Fruit Crumble Recipes

Apple is a classic stewed fruit ingredient for a hot fruit crumble. In Scotland, apple and bramble, apple and pear, apple and blackcurrant, apple and peach are fruit crumble combinations that could use locally grown fruits in season.

Raspberries, plums and rhubarb are summertime ingredients for fruit crumbles to be served hot or cold.

The copyright of the article Kilbryde Bramble and Apple Crumble in Seasonal Cooking is owned by Susan Morris. Permission to republish Kilbryde Bramble and Apple Crumble in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.