Mum's Apple and Mulberry Crumble

It's been cold on the farm this week. More than cold, it's been windy. It's also dry, so the local firies have been very busy.

On Sunday, a chopper carrying a fire-fighting bucket came low over the farm. I'm not sure the pilot chose not to raid our dam, perhaps the trees are too close? But before long the chopper disappeared from sight for a while and reappeared carrying a much heavier bucket!

The wind (and dust!) have made me want to shut the house against the elements, light the fire place, crawl under a doona and eat my weight in comfort food.

Mum's apple and mulberry crumble is one of those warming, comforting desserts that is perfect for this time of year. (We pick mulberries in season, then trim the stalk off, rinse and freeze them.)

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Apple and Mulberry Crumble

Prep 20 mins

Cook 30 mins

Total 50 mins

Author Maureen Cootes | Cooker and a Looker's Mum

Yield 6 serves

Ingredients

1kg green apples

400g mulberries

1 cup (150g) plain flour

½ cup (100g) brown sugar

100g cold butter, cubed

½ cup (50g) oats

½ cup (60g) walnuts

½ cup (35g) coconut

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180C.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Remove the stalks from the mulberries.

Rub the butter into the flour until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, nuts, oats and coconut and stir to combine.

Rub a baking dish with a little extra butter and add the apples and mulberries.

Top the baking dish with the crumble mixture, pressing down lightly.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with ice-cream, cream or custard (or Anthony's favourite, all three!)

Notes

If you can't get your hands on mulberries, raspberries or blackberries substitute well.

We've always had a mulberry tree in our yard - in my childhood home on the outskirts of Brisbane and now here on the farm. Goodness my brothers and I made some mess with that mulberry tree as kids! I think the reason I find this dessert so comforting is because it reminds me of squishing fallen mulberries between our toes and staining our chins blue with the juice.

So in all likelihood, this isn't a comforting recipe for Mum at all. Mulberry season probably meant buckets of soaking clothes and mulberry footprints to mop off the floor. Nostalgia, it's not what it used to be!

what childhood memories do you think your folks would remember differently?