Last time Bert cooked I had high hopes that he’d eat every mouthful. I helped him grate the courgette into the pea and bacon risotto chortling to myself about the thought of him eating it greedily. He took a single mouthful and flatly pronounced it ‘gusting’.
This went a bit better.
Enough for 6 (I was cooking for two)
2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and thickly sliced
1 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
As many blackberries as you can pick – we had about four big handfuls
1 tablespoon golden caster sugar
230g plain flour
115g butter, cold and in small pieces
50g golden caster sugar
40g brown sugar
Level teaspoon ground ginger
40g jumbo oats
Melt the first lot of butter and brown sugar, drop the apples in the pan, toss in the toffee sauce and cook gently on the hob for 5-10 minutes, till the apples are starting to soften. Add the blackberries and first lot of caster sugar.
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4/ 180.
Put the flour and remaining butter into the bowl of a food processor and pulse till crumbed (or rub between fingers and thumbs to crumb by hand). Stir through the remaining sugars, ginger and oats.
Pour the fruit into an ovenproof dish, top with crumble and cook for about half an hour, till golden. Serve drowned in cream