Damson and hazelnut crumble

Portion size: Serves 4
Prep time 10 min. Cook time 35 min
Difficulty: easy

Freezable

Vegetarian

Pollyanna Coupland

Food producer, delicious.

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This easy damson crumble really hits the spot with fruity, sweet and sour flavours and a tasty topping full of oats and crunchy hazelnuts. Serve this cosy pudding with cream, ice cream or a big jug of homemade custard.

Seasonal treat: September is the peak time for damsons, those wild plums whose fresh sourness can be turned into juicy rich flavour when cooked with a little sugar. Stock up on this beautiful fruit either by foraging or find them in farmer’s markets or greengrocers and make this comforting crumble.
Adjust the sweetness: As damsons grow wild, they come in varying amounts of sourness. I’ve added a range of sugar, so add the minimum amount, taste (once they’ve collapsed) and keep adding the sugar as needed. Remember, there’s more sugar in the crumble topping, so don’t make the damsons too sweet.
Scale it up: Damson season is fleeting, so it’s worth making up a big batch if you have a tree laden with fruit. It freezes well, and the fruit and topping can be frozen in separate bags if you want to save freezer space.

Next: Browse more delicious damson recipes, including gin, ice cream and jam.

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Ingredients

For the filling

500g damsons, washed and stoned
1 cooking apple, peeled, cored and diced
200-250g soft brown sugar (see intro)
1 star anise

For the hazelnut crumble

100g flour
50g light soft brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
75g butter, chilled and cubed
2 tbsp rolled oats
2 tbsp hazelnuts, roughly chopped
¼ tsp flaky sea salt

Specialist kit

25cm oval dish, or similar

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Method

Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. Put the damsons in a pan with the apple, 200g sugar and star anise over a low heat for around 5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved. Once the damsons have collapsed, taste the mixture and add more sugar if you want to (see intro), then transfer to an ovenproof dish, fishing out the star anise, if you want to.
To make the crumble topping, put the flour, sugar, ginger and chilled butter into a bowl and rub the butter into the flour, using fingers and thumbs, until you have a coarse uneven rubble texture. Stir in the oats, hazelnuts and flaky salt. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit, then bake for 30 minutes. Serve with cream, custard or ice cream.