Tart Berry Crumble

This is my favorite part of the farmers market season when the tart berries –black and red currants and gooseberries –and plums make their appearance. Kuhn Orchard Farms at the Petworth Community Market always has the most beautiful collection of berries.

Tart Berry Crumble

If you need to make this unique desert yourself, then you are in the right place because I will share some personal experience about how you should prepare it. When I wanted to make tart berry crumble for the first time, I had to learn from my mistakes, it took me a long time to perfect the recipe. Luckily for you, you will not have to make any mistake because I will share every tip that I have learned with you. all you have to do is carefully follow my instructions and you should be able to create the best tart berry crumbles of your life.

Here is a simple recipe for a Tart Berry Spiced Crumble with Creme Anglaise. The color, once the berries are cooked, is gorgeous and the flavors are just the right amount of sweet, tart and creamy. And the assembly couldn’t be easier.

What you’ll need:

Tart Berry CrumbleAbout 1 cup of berries per serving (whatever berries or other fruit you like)

About a tablespoon of sugar per serving to sprinkle over the fruit

A crumble mix made of a stick of cold butter, ½ cup brown sugar, 1 cup flour, a bit of salt, ½ tsp. each of nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, and ½ cup of raw oats. Pulse this through a processor until it is a crumbly mess of pea-sized pieces. Set aside.

You can make this in a single baking dish or in individual ramekins. Put the fruit in the baking dish(es), sprinkle with sugar, top with the crumble. Put it in the oven at 375F until the fruit is bubbly and the topping is crisp and darkish brown. If using individual ramekins, place them onto a baking tray as the fruit juices tend to bubble over.

To make the Creme Anglais:


Warm up 1 ½ cups of milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Scrape and toss the seeds and outer shell of 1 vanilla bean (or use vanilla extract).  In a bowl, mix 5 egg yolks with a pinch of salt and ¼ cup of sugar. Once the milk starts to foam around the sides of the pan, remove the bean pod, scrape it some more to get every last bit of bean and stir into the milk. Toss the pod. Temper the egg yolks by slowly drizzling the hot milk into the egg mix, whisking the whole time. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the saucepan and slowly heat to about 180F on a thermometer. You’ll need to stir the mixture constantly to prevent curdling. Strain the mix and cool. It will be set and ready to use in a couple of hours. And that’s it. Drizzle the sauce over the Tart Berry Crumble. Check our Instagram feed for the visuals.