Sugar- and dairy-free apple and blackberry crumble

By Fiona Sims

Sugar- and dairy-free apple and blackberry crumble

I know. What’s the point? I hear you say. Why not choose another pudding that’s better suited to ditching butter – and refined sugar, too, come to that. But I’m off cow for the moment and I’m trying to cut back on sugar - and I love a crumble. So here we are. After weeks of fiddling around with different dairy-free, sugar-free recipes for this and that, I’ve come up with this version. Not only am I addicted, but dare I say that this is as good as the classic butter and sugar version? Even my octogenarian crumble fanatic of a father agrees. Even better that it uses up our abundant crop of garden apples (a mix of cookers and a sweeter as yet unidentified variety) and the proliferation of wild blackberries growing at the bottom of our garden in Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. I’ve also tried this with fresh apricots and it works a treat, as I’m sure this topping would with any fruit that lends itself to being ‘crumbled’.  And before you ask if I’m not eating cow then what am I using instead of cream as an accompaniment? Goat yoghurt. Love it.

Serves 4

50g coconut oil

100g plain flour

100g blanched almonds, blitzed in the food processor (I prefer the marginally chunkier texture, but you can use ready ground almonds)

4 tbsp maple syrup

200g blackberries

300g apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 220 C, 425 F, gas mark 7. Blitz the first four ingredients in the food processor until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Combine the fruit in a large shallow ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the topping. Bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve with goat or sheep’s milk yoghurt, or coconut milk ice-cream.