Chef Thomas
Apple Charlotte
Buttered bread baked to a deep mahogany around a filling of spiced Bramley apples, turned out at the table in a small moment of drama, cold cream poured from a jug alongside.
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Damson Crumble
Created by Chef Thomas
Wild damsons baked beneath a buttery, almond-flecked crumble until they burst and stain the whole dish a deep, inky purple. A short September pudding, worth the fortnight it's good for.
Desserts
British
Comfort Food
20 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield6 servings
Damsons arrive in a hurry and leave in one. A fortnight, maybe three weeks if the weather holds, somewhere in the back end of September. I walked past a tree on the lane last week and saw them for the first time this year: small, oval, dusty-blue in the hedge, ducking under their own leaves. You could almost miss them. Most people do.
They're too tart to eat from the hand. That's the point of them. What they want is heat and sugar and time, and what they give back, once they've had all three, is a flavour no other fruit in the British year can match. Deep, winey, a bit sharp at the edge, like a plum that's had a harder life. Baked under a crumble, they burst their skins and stain everything purple-black, and you end up with a pudding that tastes like the turn of the season.
The crumble itself doesn't want to be clever. Flour, butter, demerara, oats, a handful of almonds for the top. Rubbed loose so the fruit can push through in places. I wrote it down in the notebook years ago: damsons, demerara, cold cream, Sunday. The note hasn't changed because the pudding hasn't needed to.
A word on the stones. Leave them in. Yes, really. Stoning damsons is the kind of job that takes an hour and tries your patience and at the end of it you've still got half of them mashed. Bake them whole, warn the people at the table, and let everyone fish the stones out on their own plates. There are few better feelings than putting a warm bowl of this in front of someone on a cold September evening. It's the pudding that says the summer is properly done.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
damsons
Quantity
900g
washed, stones left in
golden caster sugar
Quantity
120g
for the fruit
cornflour
Quantity
1 tablespoon
plain flour
Quantity
200g
cold unsalted butter
Quantity
125g
cubed
demerara sugar
Quantity
90g
rolled oats
Quantity
50g
flaked almonds
Quantity
50g
fine sea salt
Quantity
pinch
double cream or proper custard (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| damsonswashed, stones left in | 900g |
| golden caster sugarfor the fruit | 120g |
| cornflour | 1 tablespoon |
| plain flour | 200g |
| cold unsalted buttercubed | 125g |
| demerara sugar | 90g |
| rolled oats | 50g |
| flaked almonds | 50g |
| fine sea salt | pinch |
| double cream or proper custard (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Deep 1.5 litre pie dish or ceramic baking dish
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Baking tray to catch drips
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the damsons
Set the oven to 190C/170C fan. Tip the damsons into a deep pie dish, roughly 1.5 litres. Don't bother stoning them. Life is too short and the stones come out easily enough on the plate. Scatter the caster sugar and cornflour over the top and shake the dish gently to work it through. The fruit will look barely touched. That's right. The sugar wakes up once it hits the heat.
Warn whoever you're feeding about the stones. It isn't rudeness, it's tradition. The alternative is an hour at the kitchen table with a cherry stoner and a grudge. - 2
Rub the crumble
Put the flour and the salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter. Rub it in with your fingertips, lifting the mixture up and letting it fall back into the bowl as you go. You want the texture of rough breadcrumbs with a few larger, pea-sized lumps of butter still visible. Those lumps become the craggy, golden bits on top. Stop before it turns to paste.
- 3
Add the oats and sugar
Stir in the demerara sugar, the oats, and the flaked almonds. Use a spoon now, not your hands. The demerara is what gives the top its crunch and that faint toffee edge, so don't be tempted to swap it for anything finer. Taste a pinch. It should be sweet, nutty, slightly salty.
If you haven't got almonds, leave them out. A crumble doesn't owe anyone anything. Hazelnuts work if you've got them. So does nothing at all. - 4
Top the fruit
Tip the crumble over the damsons in loose handfuls. Don't press it down and don't worry about covering every last patch of fruit. You want the topping rubbly and uneven, with the odd gap for the purple juices to come bubbling through. A smooth, pressed-down crumble bakes into a biscuit lid. That isn't what we're after.
- 5
Bake until bubbling
Put the dish on a baking tray, because the juices will escape and you'll thank yourself later. Bake for forty to forty-five minutes. It's ready when the top is a deep golden brown and the damson juices are bubbling up around the edges in thick, purple-black pools. The kitchen will smell of toasted almonds and warm fruit, almost like jam on the stove. That's your cue. Let it sit on the side for ten minutes before serving. The fruit is molten straight from the oven and will take the roof of your mouth off if you rush it.
- 6
Serve with cream
Spoon generously into bowls, making sure everyone gets both topping and fruit. Pour cold double cream over the top and watch it meet the warm crumble and start to pool. Custard is also right, if you're the custard sort. Both is not unreasonable. Season and taste. Then taste again.
Chef Tips
- •Damsons are a market decision, not a supermarket one. You'll find them at farmers' markets, hedgerow stalls, or, if you're lucky, on a tree at the end of a lane with no one watching. If you can't find damsons, wild plums or small, tart plums will do, but the flavour is a different thing. Don't try this with anything sweet and floury, it needs the sharpness.
- •A handful of damsons freezes beautifully. When they come in, buy more than you need and freeze the rest on a tray, then bag them up. A crumble in January made from September damsons is a small act of defiance against the year.
- •Cold cream over hot crumble is the right answer. The contrast matters. If you want custard instead, make it properly with eggs and vanilla, or don't bother. Packet custard belongs somewhere else.
- •The pudding reheats well in a low oven the next day. Don't microwave it, the topping goes sad. Twenty minutes at 150C and it's almost as good as the first time.
Advance Preparation
- •The crumble topping can be rubbed together a day or two ahead and kept in the fridge in a covered bowl. It also freezes well in a bag for up to three months, ready to scatter straight from frozen over fruit.
- •The whole pudding can be assembled a few hours before baking and kept in the fridge. Pull it out while the oven heats so the dish isn't going in stone cold.
- •Leftovers keep in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a low oven to bring the topping back to itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 240g)
Calories
560 calories
Total Fat
22 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
9 g
Cholesterol
45 mg
Sodium
30 mg
Total Carbohydrates
85 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
49 g
Protein
8 g
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