Strawberry Crumble Pie

After my post on Sunday I felt a bit down. I didn't really do anything of note last week, and my photos didn't really capture the imagination. It made me realise that in term time I'm going to have to work quite hard to share photos that aren't the exact same week in week out. But I think it'll be good to have something a bit different from usual to focus on, and now that I've realised this I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Despite this relatively positive conclusion, yesterday I still needed to cheer myself up, so I decided to give a recipe I've been thinking about for quite a while a go. It's a sort of a cross between a crumble and a pie that you can also take with you if you need a little pick me up when you're out and about. I think the combination is okay though, it's good to mix things up a bit sometimes don't you think? The fruit is a bit out of season, but the strawberries brought in a touch of summer that really helped perk me up a bit,and the crumble part is lovely and comforting for the cold winter months. 

Strawberry Crumble Pie

Base

40g Caster sugar

115g Plain flour

1/4 Teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 Egg, beaten

50g Unsalted butter

Pinch of Salt

Filling

225g Strawberries 

55g Caster sugar

Crumble Topping

115g Plain flour

40g Caster sugar (plus extra to sprinkle)

75g Unsalted butter (cold)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a small pie dish with greaseproof paper. Leave a bit of extra greaseproof paper on either side of the dish so you can pull the pie out easily later.

2.Put all the ingredients in a bowl and combine. It'll be a bit crumbly when you're done, but it's easy enough to push into the bottom of the dish. Bake for around 25 minutes until firm. Take the base out of the pan and leave to cool completely on a rack.

3. Whilst the base is cooking, chop the strawberries and cover them with the sugar. Let them sit until the base is cool, and then cover the base with the chopped strawberries. There'll be a sugary juice left over, and don't get rid of it! You don't need it for a recipe, but it's delicious, and you can pour it over ice cream, yoghurt, anything you want.

4. Put all of the ingredients for the crumble topping in a bowl and rub together with your fingers until it forms fine crumbs. Evenly top the strawberries, and sprinkle with caster sugar.

5. Bake in the oven for around 40 minutes until golden and crispy on top. It's delicious eaten warm with ice cream, cream or custard. It's also fantastic to take a slice in your bag and have with your lunch. You can absolutely pretend it's healthy, because there's strawberries in it. And strawberries are healthy aren't they?

If you have a go at this recipe let me know how you get on. You could try it with any other soft fruit, or a combination of fruit. The possibilities are endless!