Mini Ginny Crumbles

6 weeks into lockdown and it got me thinking back to the beginning of November last year, just before Torin was born.  I worked up until 39 weeks and only stopped then because it was the October half term holidays.  When everyone went back to work the following Monday and I was left twiddling my thumbs at home, I really wasn’t a very happy camper at all.

I found my pre-baby maternity leave slightly irritating and incredibly boring, even though it only technically lasted 5 days before Torin arrived.  Being slightly OCD about certain things and a little too on the efficient side, our freezer was fully stocked with a plethora of precisely portioned meals, the cupboards were cleaned and organised, the door-frames washed and the washing pile non existent.

“Oooo, you’re nesting!”

No I wasn’t, I was completely and utterly bored.  I’m not very good at doing nothing, as a teacher I rarely have time to even go to the loo during the day, so finding myself with so much time on my hands drove me a little insane.  Yes, yes, yes, I know I was supposed to be taking advantage and people kept saying that I was really going to really miss it when baby arrived, but at the time it was pants and made me totally miserable!  So I decided to channel my inner Delia/Mary and do some baking.

Mat leave day one saw the successful execution of my scrummy gin and tonic drizzle cake…Hubby was very excited but wanted a little more of a gin kick, so feel free to experiment with the measures.

Mat leave day two and I decided to free up some more freezer space by using some of the frozen apples and blackberries which I collected from the garden and turn them into a crumble…to put back into the freezer for when times got tough!!

It was only when the compote mixture was bubbling away that I was hit with ginspiration and decided to add a spot of our favourite tipple, but which one to choose?  Casting my eye over our gin shelves one gin immediately stood out, Caorunn’s Raspberry Gin.  Featuring botanicals which include rowan berry, bog myrtle, heather, dandelion leaf, coul blush apple and infused with Perthshire raspberries, this apple and blackberry crumble was going to be the greatest!!

 

After something on an experimental hotchpotch, my crumbles were finished and good to go, tasting pretty darn awesome, even if I do say so myself.  So, if you’re bored, have found yourself with entirely too much time on your hands and are looking for something to warm you from the inside out now that the sun has gone away, have a go at making my mini ginny crumbles.

What you need:

6 oven ramekins, I used the glass ones you get with Gü Puddings.

For the crumble topping

• 100g unsalted butter
• 175g plain flour
• 50g demerara sugar

For the filling

• 300g blackberries
• 2 cooking apples
• 30g demerara sugar
• 30g unsalted butter
• 50-100ml gin (depending on how fruity you’re feeling)

What you do:

Pour yourself a gin to consume whilst cooking!

Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas mark 5

To make the crumble topping

1. Chop the butter into chunks.
2. Rub the butter and flour together with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.
3. Stir in the sugar.

To make the filling

1. Peel, core and cut your apples into cubes, roughly 2cm.
2. Pop your 30g of sugar and unsalted butter into a pan and melt until they’ve formed a light caramel.
3. Add your apples and blackberries and cook for a few minutes.
4. Pour gin into the mixture and allow to lightly bubble away until the apples begin to soften.
5. Spoon this mixture into your ramekin dish until it is almost full them top with the crumble mixture.
6. Either allow to cool, cover and freeze or bake in the oven until the crumble mix has turned golden brown.