Comforting, juicy, crunchy, nourishing and nurturing. This ain’t your granny’s crumble recipe, because it’s vegan, gluten-free, natural and super easy to make.
Story time: last week we had a friend of mine over for dinner. Usually I love making a big fuss about dinner: I’ll put together something really delicious, obviously homemade, with a nice bottle of wine or water presented in my mason jars, and then of course some porn food dessert. I’m proud to say my guests always leave with full and happy tummies.
But that night, I could not be bothered. Work had been stressful, I’d been hustling all week, and I was just tired. Just freaking tired. So I am not ashamed to say I made couscous from a packet and roasted some veggies to go with it. Just as I was about to serve dinner, I realised with a horror-struck gasp that I’d forgotten all about dessert. What was I going to make?!
I had frozen berries. Oats, sugar and coconut oil. A carton of ready-made vegan custard in the fridge.
~lightbulb moment~
I grabbed a small pan from the cupboard, mixed the crumble topping in the blink of eye and poured it all over the berries, then popped the whole thing in the oven to bake while we were having dinner. Thirty minutes later, the crumble was just warm to the touch and served with cold custard. Heavenly.
The moral of the story: delicious can be healthy and quick! This is made with only natural ingredients (shocker!) and takes only half an hour to make (double shocker). Even the most beginner of bakers can make this with no mishaps.
The lovely part is when it all mixes together: the ruby juices of the cooked berries, the crunchy granola-like topping, the cold creamy custard. It’s just pure comfort!
Note: making the custard calls for a step called ‘making a “roux”‘; the ‘roux’ is pictured below for your reference, but fear not, I explain how to make it in the recipe.
Easy Berry Crumble and Custard (gf+ vegan)
- 350-400g (about 2 cups) mixed berries, frozen
- 130g (1.5 cups) rolled oats
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 melted coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp vegan butter or spread
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or agave nectar
- 500ml (2 cups) soya milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF/gas mark 6).
- Tumble the frozen berries into an ovenproof dish 12 x 18 cm (5 x 7 inches).
- Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl with a spoon, until they start to form oat clusters (like wet granola mix). Cover the berries with the topping mixture.
- Bake in the oven for about half an hour, or until golden brown.
- Serve warm or cold with some cold custard (see below).
- Firstly, make a roux, i.e. melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan, then stir in the cornflour.
- When they start to form a paste; at this point, slowly pour in the soya milk, whisking continuously as you do so.
- Add the vanilla extract and maple syrup.
- When the custard starts to bubble up, reduce to heat to low. Let the custard simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring constantly, or until it is thickened up to a sauce-like consistency.
- Set aside to cool a little. Enjoy straight away or cold.
If you wanted, you could customise the custard recipe to be any flavour: my personal favourites are coffee and chocolate. (Admittedly coffee custard does not go well with berries, but with a traditional apple tart it’d be fab. No? Is it just me?)
Do you have a recipe you can whip up in no time when guests come knocking unexpectedly or you have zero time to cook/bake?
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Love and cookies,
Vanilla and berries is such an amazing combo. Love how easy this is to throw together!
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Thanks Christina 🙂 Delicious combo for sure!
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I made it & served it with your home-made chocolate pouring custard! Divine is the word! xxx
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