<Back to Recipes
Nortons' Wild Blackberry & Apple Crumble
There aren't many recipes that combine a good walk in the countryside with great food when you get in, but this one definitely does. Wild blackberries truly are one of the gifts of the Norfolk countryside. They grow virtually anywhere, but the best are to be found away from the pollution of the main roads. Try footpaths, commons and hedgerows down country lanes (follow a local walker carrying a tub in a plastic bag for clues as to the best spots). Harvesting a pot or two is well worth the effort: when fully ripe, the berries are dark and almost smoky in flavour. They freeze well too. A good tip is to make double the quantity of crumble topping and keep half in the freezer for an emergency pudding. (You can use whatever filling you can find - try frozen raspberries or berry mix, or in season plums, wild cherry plums, rhubarb and ginger, or spiced apples and dried fruit. Simply add more or less sugar to the filling depending on the tartness of the fruit.) Blackberries can also be used with other autumn berries in fruit pies and the like, but Wild Blackberry and Apple Crumble is an absolute classic, and one of my favourites.
Ingredients:
6oz plain flour
2oz Norfolk Butter
3oz sugar (granulated)
3oz porridge oats or muesli
3-4 big cooking apples
Sugar to taste
About a pint glass full of blackberries
I find it best to part-cook the apples first, so peel, core and slice them into a large saucepan with sugar to sweeten in they're a bit tart, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Turn the oven on to 180oC. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers or a food processor until a fine-crumbed texture is achieved, then mix in the sugar and porridge oats for extra crunch. Mix the blackberries into the part-cooked apples, pour into an oven-proof dish and cover with the crumble mixture. Bake for 30 minutes, when the apples should be soft and the crumble mixture set. I serve this with cream or ice-cream when the crumble is hot, and custard when the crumble is cold.
Delicious bread and butter pudding
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
8 slices bread
approximately 2 oz (50 g) softened butter
½ oz (10 g) candied lemon or orange peel, finely chopped
2 oz (50 g) currants
10 fl oz (275 ml) fresh whole milk
2 oz (50 g) caster sugar
grated zest ½ small lemon
3 free range eggs
freshly grated nutmeg
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4, 350°F (180°C) and butter a 2 pint oblong baking dish
Butter the bread and, leaving the crusts on, arrange the bread over the base of the baking dish. Sprinkle over the candied peel and the currants.
Measure out the milk into a jug, stir in the caster sugar and lemon zest, then whisk in the eggs. Pour the mixture over the bread, sprinkle over some freshly grated nutmeg, and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Serve warm. Yummy...
Variations: any bread will do - Katy Norton swears that bread and butter pudding made with French bread is unbeatable, and Nigella Lawson has a delicious alternative made with pain au chocolate. We've also tried the above recipe replacing the currants with chocolate coated raisins - a taste sensation!
Apple and Blackberry Crunchy PieBase150 grams Digestive biscuit crumbs50 grams Brown Sugar50 grams Norfolk Butter1 tablespoon Golden Syrup Filling500 grams stewed apple150 grams Blackberries 250 ml of Norton’s Double Cream 100 grams Brown Sugar For Base - mix biscuit crumbs and sugar, melt butter with golden syrup over a low heat, pour this onto biscuit crumbs and mix well. Press into a pie dish and put into the fridge to set. For Filling – Put half the stewed apples onto the base, whisk the cream until thick and spread over the apple. Put on the remainder of apples. Arrange the blackberries on the top. Sprinkle with sugar and place under a hot grill for 1 minute. Serve with fresh creamAs an alternative to Blackberries you can use raspberries or mixed berries
Buttermilk Pie
This is a great recipe for Buttermilk Pie from the Hairy Bikers TV show. Buttermilk is the liquid part that separates away from the solid butter when we churn our Norfolk Butter. It makes a great marinade as it is slightly acidic, but can be used in many baking dishes too. This recipe is incredibly simple and very effective, combining the great tastes of vanilla and lemon in a light custardy, swirly mix. If you are having a "Delia cheat" moment, simply use a pre-made pastry base or you can use a crumbled biscuit base like for a cheesecake. Delicious!
Ingredients:
1 cup/250ml Nortons Dairy Buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup caster sugar (this quantity makes it very sweet - use less if you don't have such a sweet tooth)
100gms Nortons Dairy Norfolk Butter, softened
5 eggs
2 tbsps/30gm plain flour
1 lemon - juice and rind
1 large pastry shell
Pre-heat oven to 200oC. To make, simply cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs one at a time. Add the remaining ingredients and pour into the pastry shell. Cook for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180oC and cook for a further 40 minutes, or until firm. Serve with a sprig of mint and fresh whipped double cream (Nortons Dairy, of course!!).
