Cherry Picking, crumble making and a taste of summer!

Every year like clockwork my dad's cherry tree bursts into life and fills up with cherries. Sometimes the birds get there before we do but this year we timed it just right. Since the middle of May we have been keeping a close eye on the cherries, we saw them growing and they were looking good. A couple of weeks ago they started to turn red but were not quite ready.

 I hadn't planned on picking cherries when I went to my dad's, if I'd known I'd have worn something different from a black and mostly white dress and white trainers. I don’t know what was more fun, the actual picking, the taste testing (purely for quality control of course) or the time I spent with my dad as we pottered around under the branches chatting about nothing and everything.

Picking your own fruit is brilliant!! There's no plastic packaging, no queuing at the supermarket and the biggest bonus of all they're free. The cherries were plump, dark and shiny, with that perfect mix of sweetness and tartness when you bite into them.

Cherries are in season now here in the UK, well it's heading to the end of the season. It usually lasts from mid-June through July to the beginning of August. So now is the time to make the most of them. You can find them at local markets, farm shops or if you're lucky like me growing in someone’s garden!

While they’re lovely in salads, on porridge or just eaten by the handful whenever I pick fruit the first thing on my mind is a crumble!! I know everyone associates crumble with apples in the autumn but cherries give it a whole new taste. They're ridiculously easy to make too!

So here is my go to cherry crumble recipe using fresh cherries.

For the cherry filling:

600g fresh cherries, pitted (about 4 cups)

2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)

75g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp lemon juice (optional, but it brightens the flavour)

For the crumble topping:

150g plain flour

100g cold unsalted butter, diced

75g light brown sugar

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) / 350°F / Gas mark 4 or your Air Fryer, there was no way I was using the oven on one of the hottest days of the year!

Prep the cherries:

Give them a good wash, pit them, a fiddly job but quite relaxing. I just use a straw to poke the pip out and pop them in a bowl. I remember years ago we only had paper straws and it was such a mess, metal straws are the best for this job!

Toss the cherries in with cornflour, caster sugar, vanilla and lemon juice and give them a mix. Cherries release a lot of juice when baked. A spoonful or two of cornflour (cornstarch) mixed in helps thicken the filling so it’s more jammy than soupy and a splash of lemon juice really lifts the flavour and balances the sweetness of the cherries especially if they’re very ripe.

Tip the mixture into your baking dish or whatever you have. I used some metal trays that we had in the cupboard as I wanted something to fit in the air fryer.

Make the crumble topping:

In a separate bowl, rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs then stir in the brown sugar. Don’t worry about being too perfect, crumble is meant to look rustic!

Assemble and bake:

Sprinkle the crumble mixture evenly over the cherries. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is golden brown and you can see the cherry juice bubbling around the edges. That bubbling is your cue that the fruit is properly cooked.

Serve:

Let it cool slightly before serving. I always want to have crumble with custard but as it's a summer dish I like it with ice cream or cream poured over. Yum! Cherry crumble keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days. Reheat it in the oven or microwave or eat it cold it’s delicious either way.

Have you ever made cherry crumble before?