Ultimate Berry Crumble
This berry crumble delivers the perfect balance of sweet and tart, with a tender fruit filling and a crisp, buttery crumble topping — ideal served warm with ice cream on the side.
Equipment
- 9×13‑inch (or 2‑quart) baking dish
Ingredients
Crumble topping
- 2 cups all‑purpose flour
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, frozen grated or cubed
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or as needed until mixture clumps
Berry filling
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 cup blackberries
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- a pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F (190 °C).
- Make the crumble topping: In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the frozen butter and grate or cube it into the flour mixture, tossing occasionally so the butter stays coated. Then stir in the egg yolks and vanilla, and add the apple cider vinegar as needed until the mixture begins to clump.
- Make the berry filling: In another bowl combine blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Add the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest and a pinch of cayenne pepper — stir until well combined.
- In a 2‑quart baking dish, press about half of the crumble mixture into the bottom to form a crust layer. Spread the berry filling evenly over this base. Then sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture on top, pressing some of it into clumps.
- Bake in the preheated oven 40–45 minutes, until the topping is golden‑brown and the berry filling is bubbling around the edges.
- Let the crumble cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes) before serving. Serve warm, ideally with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.
Notes
Fresh berries work best, but you can use frozen berries — if so, you may need to increase the cornstarch slightly to account for extra juice. Feel free to substitute other fruits such as ripe peaches or stone fruits for variation.