Ask me which turn of the seasons is my favourite, and I will absolutely say the start of autumn. As a family we spend a lot of time outdoors all year round, and that’s mostly at the beach. But I was raised on a diet of country walks on Sundays and I like to drag my (occasionally reluctant) boys to do the same. It always helps if there’s a reason for the ‘walking’ part… A waterfall to discover, a rope swing, hunting for wolverines etc. As August turns gently into September, it’s blackberry picking. The boys just love eating blackberries.
We venture to the footpaths on the other side of the sand dunes in Cresswell, Northumberland. Here you can still hear the waves, but it’s sheltered from the wind, and dunes with their dry grasses give way to meandering paths, high on either side with overhanging trees and prickly bramble bushes. At this time of year they are full of juicy blackberries.
We mooch along, filling our tins, noticing things we perhaps wouldn’t otherwise: a tiny toadstool, a bright red Peacock butterfly (there haven’t been so many this year), swallows dipping in the sky above our heads. Small people lifted onto grown-up shoulders can reach the juicest berries that hide on the highest branches. Blackberries seem to like living next to nettles so there’s the occasional sting, but it’s sweetened by the reward.
Coming to rest by one of the lakes that make up Hauxley Nature Reserve, we sit down in the grass and admire the fat bulrushes rising out of the water. Moorhens glide by. Several small bright blue dragonflies buzz around us and land tantalisingly close. My youngest son has eaten perhaps 80% of the blackberries he collected and his mouth is stained purple, grinning.
At this point I stash the tins we’ve managed to fill in the backpack, I’m keen to make a crumble for tea and not eat them all on the way home. It’s simple, delicious, and somehow having gathered the berries gives the dessert a connection to the earth, a sweetness that goes beyond the sugar that the blackberries have stewed in. Here's the recipe if you fancy having a go.
Blackberry & Apple Crumble
Filling:
2 cups of blackberries (washed and stalks removed)
3 medium Bramley apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
2 tbsps golden caster sugar
Crumble:
175g plain flour
110g golden caster sugar
110g cold butter
Sprinkle of oats and demerara sugar to top.
Method:
Toss the blackberries and apples in the sugar and arrange at the bottom of a baking dish.
In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour and sugar.
Chop the butter into cubes then rub into the flour and sugar mixture using your fingers.
Shake the crumble mixture evenly on top of the fruit, press it down very lightly, and then sprinkle the oats and demerara sugar on top.
Bake at 180 degrees celcius for about 1 hour, or until the top is golden and the fruit is bubbling.
Serve with cream or custard.