With autumn fruit hanging from the hedgerows and neighbours depositing bags
of apples on friends doorsteps in the middle of the night to get rid of
their surplus this old favourite may come in handy. Note a couple of tweaks
to tradition - the addition of porridge oats and hazelnuts to the crumble
topping and the two different sugars - using brown sugar in the topping but
ordinary granulated with the fruit makes a nice taste contrast. You could
also use wholemeal flour instead of the plain and the crumble topping will
still be good if you cut down on either or both of the sugar and butter in
the topping.
Try it out in the cafe at Sonairte


Blackberry and apple crumble

Ingredients:

Crumble topping

In a food processor pulse together until crumbly

	• 1/4 pound (1/2 cup) shelled and husked hazelnuts
	• 3 ounces (3/4 cup) plain flour
	• 3 ounces (3/4 cup) porridge oats
	• 4 ounces (1/2 cup packed) soft brown sugar
	• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) butter

Or chop the hazelnuts and rub the rest of the ingredients together as you
would for pastry
• 1/2 pound (1-3/4 cups) blackberries (picked from hedgerow)
• 1 pound (3 or 4 medium) apples (windfalls will do) peeled, cored
   and sliced
• 1 tablespoon white sugar mixed with a pinch of cinnamon powder

Butter a shallow casserole dish and layer blackberries and apples.
Dust over with the cinnamon sugar mixture
Top with Crumble topping and bake in 180 degrees centigrade
(160 C fan oven) for 30 to 40 minutes until top is lightly browned
and crisp and fruit is soft.
Serve with fresh cream, mascarpone or creme fraiche according to
personal preference.

It has been a bumper year for apples and other autumn fruit, the hedgerows are dripping with wild berries and we are all hoping that the old wives tales aren’t true and we aren’t in for a bitter winter.

At Sonairte the cafe staff are dipping into their recipe books for interesting ways of using and storing the bounty, and celebrating the new fashions in frugality, while keeping it not too frugal.

Fruit pies and crumbles are one obvious way of celebrating autumn fruits – not just apple but blackberry or elderberry and apple. And the blackberries and elderberries make great wines and syrups as well. For the more adventurous there are pickles and chutneys, and of course you can always make cider.

This is also a good year for hazelnuts and sloes so keen foragers can make this traditional Hedgerow Jam

Hedgerow Jam

Ingredients

250 gm rose hips, 250 gm haws, 250 gm rowan berries, 250 gm sloes, 250 gm crab apples,  500 gm blackberries, 500 gm elderberries, 4 oz shelled fresh hazelnuts, Sugar (see recipe for quantity)

Equipment
Very large pan,  sieve, bowl, wooden spoon, small jug, jars, lids

Wash fruit well. Put rose hips, haws, rowanberries, sloes & chopped crab apples into a large pan, add water to half way up, simmer gently until tender (gentle simmering gives much better flavour than boiling).

Sieve the pulp, pushing it through the sieve with the wooden spoon and weigh it.  Write down the weight. Put the pulp back into the pan and add the blackberries, elderberries, and chopped nuts. Simmer, stirring regularly to make sure it doesn’t burn, for 15 minutes. Add ! kg sugar plus the weight of the pulp (the amount you wrote down) in sugar.  Cook over a low heat until sugar has dissolved, then boil rapidly until setting point is reach.  Pot in sterilized jars.

Look for more seasonal and wild food recipes on the Sonairte website http://sonairte.ie/about/blog