Apple & Carom Seed Crumble

This is a dessert we often make when our neighbours have too many apples in their garden. As you can probably tell by now, ajwain or carom seeds are a particularly favourite spice of mine, so there I go again! Carom seeds add a wonderful pungency and savouriness to the dessert and give it added depth.

You also probably know they aid digestion, so will come in handy burning off the sugar and butter too.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the crumble topping

120g plain flour

60g caster sugar

1 tsp carom seeds

60g unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into pieces

For the fruit compote

30g unsalted butter

30g demerara sugar

300g cooking apples

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

100g blackberries

vanilla ice cream or custard, to serve

Method

• Preheat oven to 190C.
• To make the crumble, tip the flour and sugar into a large bowl. Add the carom seeds & butter, and then rub into the flour using your fingertips to make a light breadcrumb texture. Do not overwork it or the crumble will become heavy. Sprinkle the mixture evenly in a thin layer over a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 mins or until lightly coloured.
• Meanwhile, for the compote, peel, core and cut the apples into 2cm dice. Put the butter and sugar in a medium saucepan and melt together over a medium heat. Cook for 3 mins until the mixture turns to a light caramel colour. Stir in the apples and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the cinnamon, stir, and cook for 3 minutes more.
• Cover the pan with a lid, remove from the heat, then leave for 2-3 minutes to continue cooking in the warmth of the pan. Sprinkle in the blackberries.
• To serve, spoon the warm fruit into an ovenproof gratin dish, top with the crumble mix, then reheat in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 190C.
• Serve with ice cream or home made custard.