Blackberry Crumble Pie

A slice and apple and blackberry pie with a ball of vanilla ice cream on top.

5 from 1 vote

Blackberry crumble pie is a must-make dessert any time of the year but it truly shines during late summer and early autumn when fresh blackberries are in season.

Prep Time40

Cook Time45

Total Time1 25

Course: Baking, Dessert

Cuisine: American, British

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 437kcal

Author: Jane Coupland

Equipment

1 20cm (8-inch) deep pie dish

Ingredients

For the pastry

200 g Plain flour
1½ tablespoons Caster sugar
100 g Butter
⅛ teaspoon Salt
2-3 tablespoons Ice cold water

For the crumble topping

90 g Plain flour
30 g Caster sugar
60 g Butter
30 g Oats
30 g Demerara sugar

For the apple and blackberry filling

750 g Cooking apples e.g. Bramley apples
175 g Fresh blackberries or 200g frozen blackberries
90 g Light soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons Cornflour (cornstarch)
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon

Instructions

Make the pastry

Stir the salt and caster sugar into the flour flour then cube the butter and add it to the bowl.
200 g Plain flour, 1½ tablespoons Caster sugar, ⅛ teaspoon Salt, 100 g Butter
Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in just enough water to create a firm dough - add 2 tablespoons and use a blunt knife to mix it, adding more water in ½ tablespoon increments until the dough begins to form. Do not add so much water that the dough becomes sticky.
2-3 tablespoons Ice cold water
Bring the dough together with your hands.
Knead the dough on a lightly floured worktop, shape it into a disc, wrap in food-wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180℃ - slide a baking sheet into the oven as it warms up. Also prepare the crumble topping and fruit.

Make the crumble topping

Stir the flour and caster sugar together and rub in the butter until it turns clumpy.
90 g Plain flour, 30 g Caster sugar, 60 g Butter
Stir through the demerara sugar and oats.
30 g Oats, 30 g Demerara sugar

Prepare the fruit

If using frozen blackberries these must be defrosted in advance: put the frozen berries into a sieve suspended over a bowl. As they defrost the excess liquid will collect in the bowl. The liquid should be discarded.
Peel and core the apples. Chop into various sizes, leaving some pieces thicker than others and place them in a large bowl. Mix the brown sugar, cornflour and cinnamon together then sprinkle it over the apple pieces and toss.
750 g Cooking apples, 90 g Light soft brown sugar, 2 tablespoons Cornflour, 1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon

Assemble the blackberry crumble pie

Roll the pastry out to a thickness of 2-3mm and use it to line a 20cm (8-inch) deep pie dish.
Layer in half of the apples followed by half of the blackberries. Repeat with the remaining apples and blackberries then sprinkle over any flour left in the apple bowl.
175 g Fresh blackberries
Bake the pie for 15 minutes then remove from the oven and sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the fruit.
Return the pie to the oven for a further 30 minutes. Check after 20 minutes – if the topping is browning too quickly, loosely cover it with baking parchment for the final 10 minutes.

Notes

Top Tip: Cutting the apples into varying sizes and thicknesses allows them to cook at different rates. Some pieces will soften completely whilst others will retain some shape and texture. This creates the perfect pie filling.

Measure ingredients accurately. Use grams and a set of digital scales to do this.
Use the right-sized tin. This recipe calls for a deep 20cm (8-inch) pie dish. Don’t try to fit the ingredients into a shallow tin as it will overflow.
Cook your pie on a baking sheet: Put a baking sheet into the oven as it preheats then place your pie dish onto the baking sheet as your crumble pie cooks. This will help ensure the pastry base cooks properly.
Let it cool for at least an hour: If you cut your blackberry crumble pie whilst it is hot, it will be difficult to serve.
Do not omit the cornflour: It binds the apple and blackberry pie filling together. Without it the filling will be too runny.
Make it vegan: To make this crumble pie vegan simply use dairy-free block butter in place of the butter and ensure that the sugars you use are also vegan.
Make it gluten-free: To make this blackberry crumble pie gluten-free use gluten-free shortcrust pastry and a gluten-free crumble topping (adapting the quantity to suit this recipe). Cornflour is naturally gluten-free so this does not need to be replaced.

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