Gluten-free Blackberry Crumble with Dairy-free Custard

Plump and tasty blackberries are there for the taking this time of year; try them in this crumble recipe that’s free of soya, gluten and dairy.

Ingredients

For the Crumble

• 400g blackberries
• 400g dessert apples, peeled, cored and finely sliced
• 2-3 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
• 75g plain gluten-free flour blend
• 25g demerara sugar
• 25g dairy-free margarine
• 25g hazelnuts
• 15g pumpkin seeds
• 1 tbsp runny honey or maple syrup

For the Custard

• 510ml dairy-free coconut milk drink
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar
• ¼ tsp natural yellow food colouring (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 170ºC. Pick over the blackberries and remove stalks. Place the apples in a saucepan with the muscovado sugar and 1 tbsp of the blackberries. Cook on a medium heat until the apples become soft. Add the rest of the blackberries.

Place the flour, demerara sugar and margarine in a bowl, and rub into crumbs using your fingertips. Roughly chop the nuts and seeds. Place in another bowl with the honey and stir. Add to the flour mix and then mix everything together.

Spoon the fruit evenly into a 25cm pie dish. Sprinkle the topping across the fruit. Bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes until crisp and brown.

To make the custard, gently heat 500ml of the coconut drink with the vanilla extract in a pan. In a cup, stir together the cornflour, sugar and yellow food colouring, then pour in the remaining coconut drink until you have a lump-free paste. Turn the heat up under the pan and stir continuously while you pour in the cornflour mix. Keep stirring until it thickens. Remove from the heat and serve.

Notes

If you are cooking for someone who can’t have alcohol, use vanilla flavouring instead of vanilla extract. In addition, food colouring may also contain alcohol and sometimes also glycerine (which is not always suitable for vegetarians/vegans).

By Susanna Booth
Adapted from The Guardian