Oh, I hope everyone had a lovely lazy weekend rugged up inside while the rain fell over the weekend - I secretly adore weekends where it rains the whole time, it’s the perfect time to catch up on doing nothing. You may remember me prepping for this crumble that I made last week - it’s beyond delicious and wonderfully simple to make which is absolutely perfect for chilly winter evenings! I hope you all have a lovely weekend planned, I’m hosting my Ruffle Class at Studio 46 this Wednesday evening which I’m beyond excited about! x
Click read more for the recipe.

Apple Blueberry & Almond Crumble

This really is the perfect winter pie, and an absolute crowd pleaser. 

Sweet Pastry

1 egg
1/3 cup powdered (icing) sugar 2 teaspoons ground almonds Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (57g) butter, softened
1 cup plain flour, sifted
In a large bowl break the egg and beat it with a fork. Add the sugar, ground almonds, ground cinnamon and the salt to the beaten egg. Beat with a wooden spoon/spatula until the mixture turns pale yellow and frothy. Cut the butter into very small pieces and set aside.
Pour all of the sifted flour into the egg mixture and mix quickly with the spatula. Then rub the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand – only just sticking together.
Place the mixture onto a well-floured bench, dot with the chopped butter and knead with your hands to combine the butter. Form the dough into a ball, wrap with cling wrap and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 160°C, butter and flour a 20cm pie dish. On a well floured bench roll our your prepared dough to around 1/2 cm thick, then carefully place into the prepared dish. Line the pastry with crumbled baking paper and pour in either rice or pie weights – blind bake the pastry for around 15 min, or until the edges are starting to golden. Allow to cool completely before removing the baking paper – otherwise you’ll tear the pastry.

Tips & Tricks

You can roll the pastry out between two sheets of baking paper before chilling – this will save time when you line your tart tray.
This pastry will keep in the fridge for around a week and about a month in the freezer.

Apple and blueberry filling

1kg of apple, peeled and roughly chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons vanilla essence
1 tablespoon brown sugar
dash of water
1 1/2 cups blueberries - either fresh or frozen
Place the chopped apples, cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar and water into a large pot and gently stew over a medium to low heat until the apples are still whole but tender to touch. Allow to cool before adding the blueberries and set aside.
Once the pastry is cooled add the apple and blueberry mixture to the pie dish and set aside.

Almond Crumble

1/4 cup whole almonds
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3/4 cup plain flour
100g butter, room temperature
Place the almonds unto a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Add the plain flour, brown sugar and butter and pulse until breadcrumbs form - you can of course add a little more butter and flour if you want it to be more dough like.
Sprinkle atop the apple and blueberry mixture and bake at 160°C until the crumble is golden brown - enjoy while warm with a generous serving of vanilla ice cream! x
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