The Scottish Mail on Sunday - You
BLACKBERRY CRISP
The almond pastry is simple to make and fabulously crumbly, but you can certainly speed things up by using shop-bought shortcrust pastry instead. 50g unsalted butter, softened
50g caster sugar
50g ground almonds
¼ tsp almond extract
1 tbsp plain flour
1 medium egg, lightly beaten 300g cherries, halved and stoned
1 tsp cornflour crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream, to serve 75g ground almonds 150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
2 tbsp caster sugar, plus an extra ½ tbsp for scattering 100g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
★ For the pastry, pulse the ground almonds, flour, sugar andapinchofsaltinafood processor to combine. Pulse in the butter until the mixture is like breadcrumbs. Whiz in 2 tablespoons ice-cold water until the dough comes to a ball (add a splash more water if it’s too dry), then gently bring it together with your hands. Place on a large sheet of baking parchment and cover with another large sheet on top. Press out with your hands to a circle roughly 20cm in diameter. Chill for 1 hour.
★ Preheat the oven to
180C/160C fan/gas 4 and place a large flat baking sheet in the oven to heat up.
★ For the frangipane filling, using electric beaters, cream the butter and sugar for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Beat in the ground almonds, almond extract, flour and a pinch of salt until combined. Beat in half the egg (save the rest for glazing the pastry).
★ Roll out the pastry between the parchment to a circle about 30cm in diameter (roughly 3mm in thickness). Lift off the top layer of parchment. Spread the frangipane over the base of the pastry leaving a 5cm border around the edge. Toss the cherries with the cornflour and then pile up on top of the frangipane.
★ Bring the pastry edges up and around the fruit (don’t worry if it tears a bit, just press it gently together), leaving a gap in the centre so you can see the fruit. Brush the exposed pastry with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle over the extra half tablespoon of sugar.
★ Carefully slide the galette, still on the parchment, on to the hot baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the pastry is golden and the filling is set. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes (you can serve it warm or at room temperature). Serve with crème fraîche or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Try mixing up your berries in this summery crumble. A combination of blackberries and blueberries works particularly well.
SERVES 4 PREPARE: 15 MINUTES COOK: 30 MINUTES
450g blackberries
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp runny honey
50g granulated sugar 60g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
50g plain flour
50g jumbo oats double cream, to serve
★ Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Toss together the blackberries, water,
orange juice and honey in the base of an ovenproof dish about 1 litre in volume. Pat down lightly in an even layer with the back of a spoon.
★ Put the sugar, butter, flour, oats andapinchofsaltinabowland rub together with your fingertips tomakeawetandclumpy crumble topping.
★ Scatter the crumble topping over the fruit, piling it up a little higher in the middle so you can still see the fruit at the edges. Bake for 30 minutes, then stand for 5 minutes before serving with double cream.