APPLE, STRAWBERRY & ROSEMARY CRUMBLE

PREP + COOK TIME 1 HOUR SERVES 6

Australia’s geography means we are lucky to have two seasons for strawberries. During summer, they hail mainly from Victoria, while winter strawberries are grown in Queensland. 8 medium red apples (1.2kg), skinned ¼ cup (55g) caster sugar

¼ cup (60ml) water

500g small strawberries, halved

if large

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon plain (all-purpose) flour 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/3 cup (80ml) maple syrup

1½ cups (240g) almond kernels

1 cup (150g) self-raising flour 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves,

chopped finely

125g cold butter, chopped finely

½ cup (110g) firmly packed

brown sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup, extra 125g strawberries, halved, extra 1 Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan. 2 Peel, core and cut apples into 2cm pieces. Place apple, caster sugar and the water in a large saucepan; bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cook, covered, over low heat, for 10 minutes or until apples are just tender. 3 Combine apples and the cooking liquid in a large bowl with strawberries, cinnamon, plain flour, vanilla and maple syrup. Spoon mixture into a 2-litre (8-cup) shallow ovenproof dish.

4 To make crumble, process nuts, self-raising flour and rosemary until nuts are coarsely chopped. Add butter and brown sugar; pulse until butter is almost finely chopped. Tip mixture into a large bowl. Drizzle extra maple syrup over dry ingredients, then, using fingertips, rub into flour mixture until mixture begins to clump. Scatter crumble over fruit

(pile crumble high on top of the fruit as it will sink down as it cooks).

5 Bake crumble for 40 minutes or until topping is golden and fruit is soft.

6 Serve crumble topped with extra strawberries.

SERVING SUGGESTION

Serve with thick (double) cream or ice-cream.