From the Witches Kitchen
Apple & Blackberry Crumble for Mabon
Make a crisp apple and blackberry crumble for Mabon with warm cinnamon, sharp autumn fruit and a properly golden topping.
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Serves
4–6
Ingredients
For the crumble topping
- 120g plain flour
- 60g caster sugar
- 60g cold unsalted butter, cubed
For the fruit filling
- 300g Braeburn apples, peeled, cored and diced
- 115g fresh blackberries
- 30g unsalted butter
- 30g demerara sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
To serve, optional
- Custard, cream or vanilla ice cream
Kitchen Witch Notes
At Mabon, apples are often linked with wisdom, renewal and the turning of the year, while blackberries bring that wild hedgerow feeling of late summer becoming autumn. Making this can be a quiet harvest ritual: notice what has grown, what has changed and what still feeds you.
Serving Suggestions
Serve warm with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream. The correct amount is the amount that makes the evening feel more manageable.
Introduction
Blackberry-stained fingers, apples from the bowl and the first properly chilly evening of autumn are reason enough to make crumble.
This is simple Mabon food: seasonal, comforting and best served warm while rain gets on with its business outside.
Method
- Heat the oven to 190°C, 170°C fan or Gas Mark 5.
- Rub the cold butter into the flour and caster sugar until you have rough crumbs. Spread over a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes, until lightly golden.
- Meanwhile, melt the 30g butter and demerara sugar in a pan. Add the apples and cook for a few minutes.
- Add the blackberries and cinnamon. Cook gently until the fruit begins to soften but still holds its shape.
- Spoon the fruit into an ovenproof dish, scatter over the baked topping and return to the oven for 5–10 minutes, until bubbling.
- Leave to settle for a few minutes, then serve warm.
Swaps & Variations
Use pears instead of some of the apples, or swap the blackberries for blackcurrants, plums or a mixed bag of autumn berries. Add a handful of oats or chopped hazelnuts to the topping for extra crunch.
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