(with thanks to Nigella, for this one)
Ingredients:
For the filling:
- 500 grams strawberries (hulled)
- 50 grams caster sugar
- 25 grams ground almonds
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
For the topping:
- 110 grams plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 75 grams cold butter (diced)
- 100 grams flaked almonds
- 75 grams demerara sugar
- double cream (to serve)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6/400ºF. Put the hulled strawberries into your pie dish, I use a round ovenproof pie dish approx. 21cm diameter x 4cm deep (approx. 1.25 litre capacity) / 8 inches diameter x 2 inches deep (approx. 1¼ quarts capacity), and sprinkle over them the sugar, almonds and vanilla extract. Give the dish a good shake or two to mix the ingredients.
- Now for the crumble topping: put the flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl and rub in the cold, diced butter between thumb and fingers (or in a freestanding mixer). When you’ve finished, it should resemble rough, pale oatmeal. Stir in the flaked almonds and sugar with a fork.
- Tip this over the strawberry mixture, covering the strawberries in an even layer and giving a bit of a press in at the edges of the dish. Set the dish on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, by which time the crumble topping will have darkened to a pale gold and some pink-red juices will be seeping and bubbling out at the edges.
- Leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving, and be sure to put a jug of chilled double cream on the table alongside.
