Three Fruit Crumble

  
I am determined this year to use all of the pears from our pear tree.  I struggle with this each year.  We have a Conference Pear Tree, (Bosc Pears) and they are not the best pears for eating. (Lesson learnt.)  They are however great pears for cooking with, so bring on your crumbles, cakes and pies! 
 
Our landlord brought us a big bag of cooking apples yesterday and I looked at the pears that Todd had picked and the apples and thought, crumble . . .  and then I thought why not add blackberries.  But I had only a handful of blackberries, so threw in some frozen cranberries I had to make up the difference.  But you can use either all blackberries or all cranberries if you wish.
 
I can't think of anyone who wouldn't love a crumble . . .  not quite a pie, not a cake . . . fruity and sweet and topped with a nutty/buttery/crispy/crumbly topping.
 
I love to make crumbles. There is no faffing about with rolling out crusts or beating together batters . . . you just prepare your fruit, pop it into a baking dish . . .
 
Rub together a few ingredients . . .  flour, butter, sugar, oats, nuts, etc.  . . .  scatter them over top and then bake! 
 
Until the fruit is soft and jammy . . .
 
And the topping is golden brown. If you find your topping browning before your fruit is ready, cover it lightly with some aluminum foil. 
 
Let it sit for a bit . . .  you don't want anyone burning their mouth, and then spoon it out into bowls for eating  . . .
 
There is rather a lot with this one, so make sure you have plenty of people around to help you heat it, either that or prepare it in two bakes, and freeze one for later. (Without baking it, just wrap well and pop it into the freeze. Thaw completely prior to baking as below.)
 
Todd loves cream or custard poured over his  . . .  I prefer ice cream  . . .
 
Although cream is also very, very good  . . .
 
and what is ice cream, but  . . .  frozen custard.
 
Todd managed to scarf down two bowls of this on the day  . . .  and another big bowl the day after. 
  
In fact, I think he would have it for breakfast if he could . . .
 
Yield: 6 to 8Author: Marie RaynerPrint Recipe
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Three Fruit Crumble

prep time: 20 minscook time: 45 minstotal time: 65 minsThis delicious crumble makes use of three kinds of fruit. Don't be tempted to do the crumble mixture in a food processor. You will loose the rough texture that makes crumbles so fabulously crunchy and crumbly!

ingredients:

175g self raising flour (1 1/4 cup)75g butter (5 1/2 TBS))25g oats (1/3 cup)100g demerara sugar (1/2 cup, turbinado)600g ripe pears (1 1/3 pound)650g cooking apples (1 1/2 pound)100g cranberries or other berries (1 cup)2 to 3 TBS sugar or to tastea handful of flaked almonds

instructions:

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4.  Have a baking tray upon which you have laid out  a large shallow baking dish.
Measure
 the flour into a bowl.  Cut the butter into bits and drop in. Rub in
with your fingertips until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.  Stir in
the oats and demerara sugar.  Set aside.
Peel
and core the pears and apples. Slice thinly into a bowl. Toss in the
berries and the sugar. Toss all together to coat and them pour into the
prepared baking dish.  Scatter the crumble topping over top of all.
Don't press it down, you don't want it compact.
Bake
 in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.  Sprinkle with the almonds, then
return to the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until golden
 brown and crisp in places.  Serve warm with either cream, ice cream, or
 custard for pouring over top.Created using The Recipes Generator
 
Crumbles speak Autumn to me  . . .  not quite there yet, I know  . . .  but only a few more days to go. This is a lovely one. Bon Appetit!