- Serves 4 to 8 - Ready in 1 hour 15 minutes -
Gather together…
800g of gooseberries (washed and then 'topped and tailed' with scissors).
200g butter.
1 cup plain flour.
2 cups porridge oats.
2/3 cup (170g) sugar (brown or white) to include in the crumble topping.
1/2 cup (125g) sugar (brown or white) to sweeten the fruit.
Serve with…
Good-quality vanilla ice cream / custard.
Get cooking…
1. First 'top and tail' the gooseberries using scissors, i.e. remove the top stalk and the tail. The gooseberries below have just been picked and are yet to be trimmed.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 200 C (180 C fan) or Gas 6.
3. Microwave the 800g of 'topped-and-tailed' gooseberries for 4 minutes on high, to pre-soften them very slightly. No need to add any water as moisture from the gooseberries will be released when heated. Ideally use a lidded pyrex dish, so that you can use it later as the dish you bake the crumble in (to lessen the washing up).
4. Meanwhile, gently melt the 200g of butter in a medium-large pan on the hob.
5. Once the butter has melted, turn off the hob and add to the pan; the 1 cup of plain flour, the 2 cups of oats and the 2/3 cup of sugar and mix. The consistency will be similar to crumbly, unbaked, oaty cookie dough. Set aside.
6. In a large, shallow over-proof dish (ideally the dish you used in the microwave) mix the slightly-warmed gooseberries with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. Stir well.
7. On top of the gooseberries, sprinkle the crumble mixture and spread it out.
8. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 25 minutes.
9. Set the oven to 'GRILL' and brown the top under a high heat for 1 minute.
10. Serve with good-quality vanilla ice cream or custard (to soften the fresh tang of the gooseberries) - yum!
11. Any uneaten crumble should be cooled and then kept in the fridge, with a lid / beeswax wrap covering the dish for up to three days. This recipe's crumble layer is deliciously thick, but it solidifies into an impenetrable layer in the fridge - so to serve the crumble the next day you'll need to microwave on HIGH for 20 seconds+ to soften the crumble layer (be sure NOT to microwave the beeswax wrap though, if that's what you were using to cover the dish in the fridge). Any re-heated crumble needs eating up whilst still warm, which is common sense food safety practice.