Why my dear readers, Why? Why do I always do this to myself? Because I am a glutton for self-torture, it seems. I'm sure by now, you have gathered that I am not a morning person. It takes something very special to have me awake at this unearthly hour, I will tell you. But here I am, tramping my way down the quiet but pretty streets of Ottery St Catchpole at seven thirty in the morning, on a SUNDAY!! There should be a law against it, I swear. If it wasn't for my now-established affection for Momma Fox, I would still be wrapped up cosily in my bed.
How did I get into this situation, I hear you ask? Well, it all comes back to my sweet but somewhat neurotic colleague Katie. She is a dear friend, but between her and Tabitha, I find I regularly find myself regretting my actions. It all began last week when she cornered me to help her with her interview article. I was happy to help, but by the time we were done with her myriad of random questions, I was rather exhausted. So much so that I wrote the wrong time on the owl I sent to Momma Fox to arrange our next session. I had intended to arrange our session for five thirty pm, but in trying to use Momma Fox's preferred military time, I missed out the one. So here I am, at her door, uncaffeinated and desperately hoping she can help me to feel somewhat more human.
I am fortunate, however, that my teacher can now anticipate my needs to a great degree. I'm not sure how she knows, but she always does. By the time I was seated on my usual stool in her warm and welcoming kitchen, there was a large bucket of my favourite coffee under my nose. I could almost swear I heard her laugh a little as she pressed a sheet of parchment into my hand.
"Well, now, Child, aren't you just a rosy little ray of sunshine this morning?" Yup. I was right. The tawny-eared witch was smirking at me over the rim of her teacup. "I must say I was a little surprised by the early call today, but I figured you had something else important to do today. You young ones are always up to something exciting." For once, though, she was wrong, so blushing faintly and looking down at her sheepishly, I muttered, "Actually, no, Momma Fox. Not today. It was merely a slip of the quill. I do hope that hasn't messed with your plan for our session?"
Relief flooded me as she poked a gnarled finger at the parchment in my hand and chuckled, "Well, no, not exactly. We are going to be making a lovely Summer Fruit Crumble today with all the tasty things I've harvested from the orchard. It's usually something I recommend as an after-dinner treat, but there is nothing wrong with having it for breakfast occasionally. I won't tell if you don't?" I nodded and thanked my lucky stars once again for this sweet and kind lady. The crumble sounded perfect, so giving her a grateful grin, I set down my coffee and got to work.
Ingredients:
For the filling:
400g apples, peeled, cored and cut into small pieces
300g figs, woody stalks trimmed, quartered
300g blackberries, washed well
2 tbsp soft brown sugar, preferably Demerara
50ml apple juice
1 tsp cinnamon
For the topping:
140g plain flour
140g wholemeal flour
175g butter, cut into small pieces
100g course brown sugar
Directions:
1. First, make the topping. Put the flours in a bowl with a pinch of salt, then rub in the butter with your fingertips to form crumbs. Stir in the sugar with a fork, and chill until needed.
2. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tip the apples, plums, cinnamon and sugar into a big saucepan or pewter cauldron with the apple juice and cook over a medium heat for about 5 mins, stirring regularly, until the apples are soft and juicy. Then stir in the figs and blackberries. The best way to do this is to use your Permisceto mixing spell and turn your wand three times clockwise and then three times anti-clockwise every minute for three minutes.
3. Tip the mixture into a baking dish. Scatter over the crumble topping and bake for 45-55 mins until the crumble mix is golden and the fruit is bubbling.
4. Serve hot with either pouring cream, custard or ice cream.
The smells that emanated through the cavernous space in Momma Fox's kitchen that morning were enough to make my stomach rumble like a ravenous bear, and by the time the crumble was cooked, I was ready for second and third helpings. The comfortable chatter between me and the miniature kitchen marvel as we worked made the early start even more worthwhile too. So maybe when I get back to the office tomorrow, I won't throw a gobstone or two at Katie's head when she's not looking.....maybe....
But until next time, my dear readers! Happy cooking! - Nikita