This Apple Blackberry Crumble is a simple, yet delicious dessert that accentuates the seasonal fruit best. Spiced with cinnamon and lemon, and with a crunchy topping, the jammy fruit filling is one of my favorite comfort food.
Why you'll love this recipe
- It's a simple, straightforward recipe perfect for beginners and experienced bakers that doesn't compromise the flavor.
- It's done in no time and you don't need any fancy ingredients.
- Metric measurements. A kitchen scale is your best friend and measuring the ingredients by weight is a great start to a successful recipe recreation.
- Step-by-step images. In case you need some visual cues, here you have everything you need to help you make this Apple Blackberry Crumble.
Come summer and the abundance of fresh fruit is surrounding you everywhere. The local markets become painted in all the rainbow colors from the fresh produce and that's the only thing I love about summer.
Of course, you can enjoy the fresh fruit as is, but one of my favorite ways has to be making pies, tarts and crumbles. The jammy fruit fillings have my heart, especially with a nice scoop of ice cream or freshly whipped cream. Yum!
This Apple and Blackberry Crumble, with the combination of mildly sweet apple, warm cinnamon and zesty blackberries, is a perfect ode to both summer and the beginning of Autumn. And if you agree, don't miss my Blueberry Apple Pie or Nectarine Blackberry Galette. You'll love them.
However, if you're looking for a cold and creamy pie dessert, make sure to check out my Caramel Coconut Cream Pie or this French Strawberry Tart (Tarte aux Fraises); they're crowd pleasers!
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Ingredient notes
- Flour: you'll need it for the crunchy streusel topping. I use all-purpose/plain flour and it works great.
- Butter: if possible, use European-style unsalted butter with at least 82% fat. However, since we're only using it to add a crunchy top (instead of making a pie crust), you can use other types as well. Just note that they may affect the flavor, i.e. the butteriness of the topping.
- Sugar: I used granulated white sugar, but you can also use light soft brown sugar (in both the filling and topping) which would give a nice caramel note to your apple blackberry crumble.
- Cornstarch: I like a jammy filling, like in pies, so I like to use a thickening agent to achieve that such as cornstarch. Traditionally, English crumbles don't use any thickeners and end up on a slightly runnier side. If that's your preference, feel free to omit the cornstarch.
How to make apple and blackberry crumble (step-by-step)
Note: You have the fully written recipe with measurements and detailed instructions at the end of the post. However, I advise you to read all the helpful tips and FAQs.
- Start by making the streusel topping. Sift the flour, salt, and sugar into a medium-sized bowl and combine using a whisk.
- Add the melted butter and stir the mixture with a fork, in a quick manner, until the mixture starts clumping together.
- Add the rolled oats or nuts, stir to combine, and set aside until needed.
Tip
If you're using pretty sweet apples, you might want to cut on sugar. That also means that you'll have less overall water content in the mixture, so you might want to use less cornstarch as well, as it can make the filling too thick and dry.
- Start with peeling and dicing the apples. Place the apples in a large bowl and add the lemon zest, juice and blackberries.
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and cardamom with a fork until every granule is evenly coated.
- Add the sugar mixture to the fruit and gently stir everything with a spoon until completely incorporated.
- Add the prepared fruit filling to a baking dish lightly greased with butter. Make sure to use all the fruit and tuck it in densely. Pour over all the juices from the bowl.
- Sprinkle the top with prepared streusel.
- Bake on a middle oven rack for about 40-45 minutes, or until the top is golden and the bubbles from the fruit are peeking through the crumble.
Yield and serving
This recipe makes enough to serve 6 people. It's most delicious when served still warm (not too hot), with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.
Tips and tricks
- You can easily make this recipe plant-based by substituting butter for vegan butter or margarine.
- You have a big gathering? Not a problem, you can double or triple this recipe and feed the whole crowd. Pay attention to the baking time in case you use a deeper or shallower dish.
- Make the crumbly topping your own by adding various nuts, rolled oats or spices for extra crunch and flavor.
Best apples for baking
Generally speaking, apples that are firm and have a good balance of tart and sweet are the best for baking. My favorites are Granny Smith apples because they're almost always available and they don't turn to mush once baked.
Apart from them, some other great choices for baking are Pink Lady (also known as Cripps Pink), Honeycrisp, Gala, Jonagold and Bramley apples. Some of them are sweeter than the others, so it's best to try them and adapt the sugar.
I would avoid soft apples that don't have a very strong flavor, such as Red Delicious.
Substitutions and flavor variations
The great thing about crumbles is that you can easily change the fruit and get a completely different, but equally delicious dish.
Use blueberries instead of blackberries, like in my blueberry apple pie, or switch the apples for peaches and add raspberries for freshness.
Note: some fruits, like apples and peaches, have more pectin than the others such as strawberries. Pectin is fiber naturally found in fruits that has thickening purposes. That means that if you omit apples and use berries solely, you might get a runnier filling.
That can be easily fixed by adding 1-2 extra teaspoons of cornstarch or omitting some sugar which pulls the moisture from the fruit.
Storing
Keep any leftovers at room temperature covered tightly with plastic wrap for 1-2 days or longer in the fridge.
FAQs and Troubleshooting
Luckily for you, they're the same thing. The Brits call it crumble and the Americans crisp, but both referred to stewed, baked fruit with streusel topping.
A few reasons could be the culprit:
1. You either forgot to add the cornstarch or added less than you needed.
2. You added more sugar than stated in the recipe, which contributed to more moisture and water content.
3. You used frozen blackberries that had a substantial amount of extra water to them.
4. You didn't bake the crumble enough, so the fruit didn't have time to break down and set nicely.
Yes, it's perfectly safe. However, please note that reheating will make the crumble topping soft and if heated for too long, some water may evaporate and make the filling thicker.
If you have any other questions that I didn't cover, please let me know in the comments section down below - I'd love to help you out!
And if you make this Apple Blackberry Crumble tag me on Instagram @anasbakingchronicles so I can see it or feel free to e-mail me your pictures and thoughts! I love seeing your bakes!
Happy baking,
Ana
📖 Recipe
Apple and Blackberry Crumble
Description
ingredients
apple blackberry filling
- 550-600 g apples (peeled, diced)
- 250 g blackberries
- 125 g granulated sugar
- 20 g cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- zest of ½ a lemon
streusel topping
- 125 g all-purpose flour
- 90 g granulated sugar
- 75 g unsalted butter (melted)
- rolled oats, nuts (optional)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Instructions
to make the streusel topping
- Sift and combine the flour, salt, and sugar into a small bowl. Gradually add the melted butter while stirring with a fork, until the mixture starts clumping together. Add the rolled oats, stir to combine, and set aside until needed.
to make the apple blackberry filling
- Start with peeling and dicing the apples. Place the apples in a large bowl and add the lemon zest, juice and blackberries.
- In a small bowl, combine together the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and cardamom with a fork until every granule is evenly coated.
- Add the sugar mixture to the fruit and gently stir everything with a spoon until completely incorporated.
to assemble
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) or 175°C (350°F) if you're using a fan-assisted oven.
- Add the prepared fruit filling to a baking dish lightly greased with butter. Make sure to use all the fruit and tuck it in densely. Pour over all the juices from the bowl.
- Sprinkle the top with prepared streusel.
- Bake on a middle oven rack for about 40-45 minutes, or until the top is golden and the bubbles from the fruit are peeking through the crumble.
- When done, remove the crumble from the oven and let it cool slightly before serving with some ice cream or freshly whipped cream.
Notes
- You can use frozen blackberries instead of fresh ones.
- Please read all the tips mentioned in the post.
IMPORTANT
All the recipes are developed and tested using only metric measurements and a kitchen scale. The U.S. cup and spoon measurements are provided for your convenience, but I highly recommend getting a digital kitchen scale and measuring in metrics. It's easy and always guarantee the same results in baking!
Nutrition
The nutritional information and US conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or unit conversion tool.
Amie says
The best apple and blackberry crumble recipe out there, I swear!! So delicious, great with vanilla ice cream too! Thank you so much Ana, I love all your recipes 🙂
Ana Zelić says
Thank you so much, Amie! So happy you enjoyed it, I'm making one with apples and raspberries as we speak! <3
Alison says
I loved the addition of lemon zest and juice, which made a difference from other recipes I’ve tried. The cinnamon/ cardamom combo also makes a lovely flavourful addition. I added the same quantity of spices into the topping (which I had doubled). I made 1 1/2x the fruit filling as well - I needed plenty of crumble for 8 adults. This amount would easily have served 9 guests and the portion size was generous. It is a lovely recipe, which I have saved and will be using again and again. Thank you! 🙂
Ana Zelić says
Dear Alison, thank you so much for your lovely feedback. I love that you added the spices to the topping as well, it sounds delicious!
Ana xx