This mixed berry crumble/crisp is made with a delicious selection of fresh berries, topped with a delicious crunchy streusel topping (without oats), and offers plenty of ways to customize! It is a super simple, quick mid-week dessert and can easily be made vegan and gluten-free with just a couple of ingredient swaps!
Prepare the filling. Mix the berries, sugar, cornflour, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. You can also do this directly in the dish you plan to bake them in (and save up on washing).
Prepare the streusel topping. Mix the flour, coconut, butter (room temp is best), sugar, and salt. Mix the ingredients until well combined. It’s best to use your fingertips to help the butter soften and get mixed with the rest of the dry ingredients - and also create the thick crumb-like consistency of the crumble topping. Add the nuts and mix to combine.
Combine and bake the berry crumble. Pour the berry mixture into a baking dish (20x30cm/8x12"-inch rectangular or 25cm/10" round tin). Then top it with the buttery mixture.Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes at 180ºC/350ºF (fan-assisted). The crumble is ready when it starts bubbling and the crust is golden. If you want it more golden on top, turn on the grill (broiler) and heat for 2-3 minutes until it's browned further.
How To Serve & Store:
Serve this berry crisp alongside pouring cream, thickened cream, vanilla custard, vanilla ice-cream (using this caramel ice cream recipe but with white sugar), or even with whipped cream (or DF whipped coconut cream).Store any leftovers covered at room temperature for 2-3 days, or within the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven or microwave (the topping may be negatively affected- I haven't yet tried).
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Notes
To Make Ahead, you can:
Prepare the filling and topping in separate containers, allowing them to chill in the refrigerator until you're ready to bake (up to a day before baking). When ready, add the crisp topping to the berries and bake.
You can prepare the berry crumble (including filling and topping) and then freeze, covered tightly, for between 3-4 months. Bake from frozen until bubbling and golden brown - this can take up to an hour.
Recipe Notes & Variations:
For a vegan berry crisp: simply use vegan butter or solid coconut oil in place of the butter.
For a gluten-free berry crisp: Swap out the flour in the berry crisp topping for a gluten-free option such as GF plain white flour or GF all-purpose flour.
You can use fresh or frozen berries. This is great for the winter months. If you use frozen fruit then you'll simply need to add some additional minutes to the baking time.
The berries are best texturally soon after baking. I've found that the longer they sit, the more the berries break down.
For an extra crisp topping, you can bake the streusel crumbs on a separate baking tray then top the crumble with them, once cooked.