MIKEY BELL

A crumble, this strawberry crumble specifically, is my ‘well… we need a dessert, so it may as well be crumble,’ dessert.

It’s unfussy, endlessly adaptable, deeply comforting and crucially always goes down well at the table. I don’t actually know anybody who would, or has, said ‘you know what, no to crumble, it’s not for me, I’ll pass.’

I mean… unless there are allergies and dietary restrictions in place etc and for y’all I apologise but on the whole, a crumble is universally accepted as an almost perfect and satisfying dessert.

It’s also lowkey unapologetically British?

Like I feel very sentimental to being a Brit (Welsh, specifically, ahem) when I cook and eat it, for some reason? It exists because it’s a practical dessert, don’t get me wrong, and I don’t want to bash this country’s ability to grow good fruit, we can, but sometimes the experience of that fruit is amplified when it’s cooked. 

Brits do cooked fruit very well, I think.

This crumble leans into that energy. Actually no, it doesn’t lean into it, it picks it up and sprints because we are using… whisper this with me… frozen fruit here.

Okay. Let’s go there.

I know frozen strawberries do not get the same applause as fresh strawberries. No fruit does, really, but there is sense and logic here.

When frozen strawberries thaw slowly overnight with sugar and cornflour, they release this fruity, thick syrupy juice which pools and thickens, turning into a glossy, ruby-slipper-red sauce that fresh strawberries simply couldn’t unless they had a lot of interference and support.

This overnight thawing process also just aids with the actual cooking, because my go-to method is to make both the filling and topping separately the day before I need it, so that when we’re near dessert time, all I do is scatter the crumble on top of the filling and then slip it into a hot oven.

I’ve made some recommendations below if you absolutely must use fresh – which I do when the fruit is especially gorgeous – but I do urge you to try it with frozen strawberries first and see how you feel.

As for the crumble topping, it’s everything you want it to be. Buttery, light, a little bit of salt just to keep everything in line. I stud the topping with pecans for extra texture, their richness complimenting the sweetness of the strawberries. 

Some thoughts.

Frozen strawberries – like I said above, give them a go. I know they look like blood-strewn slugs when they’re defrosted but think more juice, more syrup, more fun under the crust.

But also fresh strawberries if you must – slice them and toss with the sugars, vanilla, rosewater and cornflour but add either a splash of water or the juice of a whole orange and leave for just like… an hour. It won’t need overnight. If they still look a little dry before you add the topping, just add more orange juice or a splash of water.

Sugar – I like a mix because the brown sugar adds a fabulous caramel treacliness, but you could just use the same amount of white sugar. I wouldn’t use all brown sugar, it could be a little rich.

Rosewater – totally optional but I like a dash of it, it’s Turkish Delight fantasy really singing with the strawberries.

Nuts – again, optional but I love pecans. Some almonds or walnuts would work too.

To serve – I love double cream, custard, and ice cream in equal measures here. I’m not as strict as with, say an apple pie, where I feel ice cream is the only option, but I do have. With this crumble, I like the double cream but only if it is very, very cold. I like the custard but only if it’s very wobbly, piping hot, and preferably homemade (I have a recipe here), and if it’s ice cream, I want it vanilla. Absolutely no funny flavours, and it should be linen white with little, delightful flecks of black vanilla seed in it. Yellow ice cream is not vanilla, don’t let the school canteen memories fool you. Lovely though it is, I want that on a cone with a flake, not here, sullying the sophistication (of frozen fruit… sure… but you get what I mean.)

Lovely stuff.

The eagle-eyed among you may notice actually, that this recipe is included in my end-to-end rundown of a Sunday Dinner, which has been one of my more popular posts. I sometimes have to force myself to not make a crumble for a Sunday Dinner, purely because of the overnight-ness of it all, which means I have much more free time on the roast day because the dessert is already done.

Also, somehow, crumble feels light… even though it is absolutely not… so it feels like there’s always room for it? Again, bringing me back to, I have never knowingly been told no when offering crumble at the table.

Fabulous stuff.

So if you’re keen to see how you can make this alongside the entire endeavour of a Sunday dinner, then you can click here.

Serves 4 – 6

For the filling

500g frozen strawberries

25g caster sugar

25g soft brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp rosewater (optional)

1 tbs cornflour

For the topping

150g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

80g unsalted butter – cold, cut into small pieces

80g pecans – bashed to a mix of dust and rubble

50g caster sugar

1. The night before you want to bake (I hate starting recipes like this, but tomorrow you will thank me) tip the frozen strawberries into an ovenproof dish – roughly 20cm in diameter is fine.
2. Add the sugars, vanilla extract, rosewater (if using) and cornflour. Give the dish a good shake so that everything disperses as evenly as possible – don’t bother stirring, the strawberries are all clumped together anyway.
3. Cover and place in the fridge overnight, which will allow the strawberries to thaw slowly and let their juices mingle with the sugars and cornflour.
4. For the topping, put the flour and baking powder into a large bowl with a pinch of salt. Add the cold butter and using your fingertips, rub it into the flour, your fingers making little fluttering movements while you rub the butter into the flour. This will create little pieces of crumble, but I also like big chunks, so I find it helps using a pressing motion now and then too, pressing pieces of butter into the flour, so you’re left with a not-uniform bowl that resembles scruffy porridge oats.
5. Fork through the pecans and sugar until evenly dispersed, transfer to a ziplock bag and leave in the fridge overnight.
6. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180°C.
7. Remove the strawberries from the fridge and give them a gentle stir.
8. Scatter the crumble topping evenly over the fruit, not pressing down on them, just covering the fruit as best as possible. I like a very thick crumble crust.
9. Place the dish on a baking tray (just for ease of moving in and out of the oven) and bake for 40 – 50 minutes until the topping is golden and the strawberry juices are thick, glossy, and bubbling up around the edge of the topping.
10. Leave to stand for about 10 minutes (it will be nuclear hot, so try and resist) and serve warm either with cream, custard, or ice cream.