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Apple & Blueberry Crumble Pie

OMG IT’S BEEN SO LONG! Have you missed me? I sure have missed you, whoever you are 🙂 I am absolutely not going to talk about exams or revision because just the thought of them make me sick a bit in my mouth.
Instead I’m going to tell you all about my holiday to Turkey! Seeing as I haven’t done this in a while this post is gonna be a bit longer with a few extra non-food photos. I know, I know, crazy!

Definitely Turkey ’14
So two days after all the mayhem was over, 7 of us no -longer- speech- and- language -therapy- students – not- quite- graduates, hopped on a plane to Antalya, Turkey. We stayed in a beautiful little villa between the towns Belek and Kadriye, about 45 mins away from Side. WE HAD AN AMAZING TIME (Sorry I had to do it).  I’m not gonna bore you with details so I will tell you the highlights!
Having our own pool was a massive highlight for a start! It wasn’t the warmest of pools, but after a bit of roasting in the sun, it was quite refreshing to jump in. We even did a bit of water aerobics. After a few days of hunting for a cheap ball (it was harder than you think) we were also able to play volley ball. I say we played volley ball, we just made A LOT of noise and hit the ball around a bit. In fact we were so enthusiastic about the game a neighbour came to our gate to tell us to be quiet. At least that’s what we thought he was saying.

Kadriye was a nice little town with a couple of small supermarkets and lots and lots of fake handbag shops! I love going to foreign supermarkets, you never know what you are going to find! There was also a little fruit and veg shop where we got a ridiculous amount of fruit and veg for around £1. Apart from Turkish Delight, Turkey is also known for it’s fruit teas. It comes in allll different flavours and they usually let you try it in the shops. There was one shop in particular we went back to a couple of times, and I used this opportunity to sample as many different teas and Turkish Delights as I could! I ended up buying some mango tea and an assortment of Turkish Delights for my Mum.

You can’t go on holiday without going on at least one excursion, we went on two! The first being a pirate ship. We were told we were going on the “Dolphin Island” excursion and it definitely wouldn’t be a pirate ship. Well got done over didn’t we and it was a darn pirate ship! The weather was dull and grey when we arrived in Side which already dampened our spirits, then we found out that we wouldn’t get the chance to walk around Side like we had been promised, THEN we saw the ship we were about to board, and it couldn’t’ve been more pirate like! After finding a place to sit, our disappointment written across our faces, things got worse. They started blaring out music and it seemed they only had two cd’s which were played over and over. Don’t worry though, the sky cleared, the sun came out and we turned the speakers around so all hope was not lost! We stopped off at this little strip of beach where on one side it was river water and the other it was sea. There was a lady sat in a little hut making these amazing flat bread, wrap things which you could have cheese or chocolate in. I remember last time I went to Turkey a lady would sit by the pool making them and they were delicious. So I went for cheese  hoping they would be as goos as I remembered. I was not disappointed. We had a little paddle in the sea and then had to get back on the boat. We spent more time on that darn boat then in the water or on the beach. We didn’t even see any dolphins and saw only ONE sea turtle haha.

So the second excursion, and probably my favourite thing we did on holiday, was white water rafting in Köprülü Canyon. Only three of us went, whilst the others went for a Turkish massage. Having been out to celebrate one of the gurrl’s birthdays the night before, we thought we had made the wrong choice, but we definitely didn’t! The scenery was absolutely beautiful. The water was an icy blue colour and was equally as icy in temperature! But you get used to it. Our guide said people call him “Mr Crazy”(we thought he looked a little bit like a Turkish Ryan Gosling) and he lived up to his name. Jumping of bridges, climbing trees and swan diving off the top and all sorts. We also all got chucked in the water a few times, on purpose! But it was great! We had so much fun, I definitely want to do it again. Oh yeah I gave the subtitle “Definitely Turkey” because apparently we say definitely alot. Our raft guide was making fun of us saying it “daaaafinitely”. I have noticed I have written it quite a bit in this post already. Whoops.
 
Before I bore you all to death I will give you a quick insight as to what we ate. Bread, crisps, feta cheese, cucumber, tomatoes and…gerkhins were our lunch stales.  Yep that’s right 6/7 of us liked gerkhins so we went through 2 or 3 large jars over the week. As we were self catered we cooked dinner most nights, only ate out twice in fact. We took turns in cooking and had everything from pasta bake to spanish frittata and burritos! We did good. Oh also the watermelon there was delicious and the strawberries! 

I think I have told you the main bits! I wanted to bake something really great to celebrate my return to the kitchen. I wanted it to be something that everyone at home would enjoy, but it also had to be a treat. Nothing healthy! So this happened… APPLE & BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE PIE. When I think of comforting dessert crumble definitely comes to mind first, followed closely by pie. I love crumble and I love pie, I mean who doesn’t, so it was an obvious alliance of sweet treats. Apples are a classic choice of filling (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it) and blueberries are just coming into season so this was another quite obvious pairing. 

This crumble pie does not mess about. It far surpassed my wildest dessert dreams. The pie crust is nice and thin and the crumble has the perfect crunch : chew ratio. I impressed myself fur sure with this one! Safe to say everyone at home liked it as well! My Mum took it to work and had it for lunch one day. No sandwiches, just pie! Papa B & I enjoyed with custard on more than one occasion, as did Hannah. Even Grandpa B said it wasn’t too sweet for him, and he enjoyed a slice with his afternoon cuppa chai. Not to blow my own trumpet or anything haha. 


I feel like this may become a KB.eats signature dish! Watch this space for seasonal fillings and crazy crumble creations. Oooh I love a bit of alliteration. 

Recipe 

This is a KB.eats original. I did however use Delia’s crumble recipe for the topping, so thanks gurrl. Just a few quick notes before we begin. Don’t be alarmed, the pie crust will be quite thin, I prefer it this way so it’s not too heavy with the crumble. I recommend using a food processor for both the crust and crumble as it just makes like so much easier!

Serves: 8
Prep Time: 45mins (including apple peeling chopping and stewing)
Cooking Time: 40 mins (blind bake and 
Skill Level: Not quite easy as pie
Equipment:

23cm pie dish
Chopping board
Peeler
Saucepan 
Mixing bowl
Baking parchment
Baking beans (any dried beans e.g. kidney)

Ingredients
Pastry
85g cold butter (diced)
175g plain flour (plus a little extra for dusting)
2-3 tbsp caster sugar
pinch of salt
30-45ml cold water 
 
Filling
850g apples (weight = not peeled and chopped)
2 tsp cinnamon 
150g blueberries
30g caster sugar
 
Crumble
80g plain flour
80g rolled oats
70g butter (room temp) 
80g caster sugar

 

Method

  1. Begin with making the pie crust. Put the butter, flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and whizz on  low-med speed, until mixture resembles fine crumbs. (Can be done by hand; rub butter and flour together)
  2. Slowly add the water 1 tbsp at a time whilst still whizzing, until the crumbs come together to form a dough (you may not need all the water).
  3. Tip dough out onto a a clean surface and bring together to form a ball. Cover in cling-film and refrigerate for 30mins.
  4. Pre-heat the oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 6.
  5. Peel and chop apple, put in saucepan along with cinnamon, cover with lid and stew over a medium heat for 15mins. (Chop apples however you prefer, I like mine to be about 1cm thick)
  6. Once apples have softened, add half the blueberries and sugar. Cover with lid and stew for a further 3 mins. Remove from heat and set aside.
  7. Remove dough from fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface.
  8. Line pie dish with dough, place a sheet of baking parchment in the middle and cover with baking beans.
  9. Blind bake for 10 mins, remove beans and baking parchment and bake for a further 5mins until crust is slightly coloured. Remember it will be going back in to cook the crumble so it doesn’t need to be golden. 
  10. Whilst the crust is baking make the crumble,  put the butter, flour oats and sugar in a food processor and whizz on  low-med speed, until mixture resembles fine crumbs(Can be done by hand; rub together)
  11. Once crust is ready, cover in apple & blueberry filling and top with remaining blueberries.
  12. Cover in crumble and bake for 20-25mins until crumble is golden brown.
  13. Remove from oven and serve!
π = 3.14159
 

It’s definitely time to get the summer playlist on if today’s weather is anything to go by! My new summer musical find is Tune-yards. Check em out…

It’s good to be back 🙂
KB x

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