Portable crumble
We all have our cooking idols: Jamie, Nigella, maybe even Sophie, but mine is a little more old school.
I’ve had Delia’s ‘How to Cook’ books since they were published, about ten years ago. They’ve helped me, a woman with enthusiasm but fairly limited knowledge, to cook more. I’m no longer scared of making my own pastry or using it to knock up the odd steak and ale pie.
This page, as you can see, has been open a lot. It’s a recipe for ‘plum and cinnamon oat squares.’ These are more than just flapjacks though: 8oz of butter goes into a small tray-full.
Back in the days of my ‘proper job’ I used to manage projects for food industry clients. A recurring theme was eating solutions for people in a hurry with no access to a kitchen. Some of the concepts were pretty madcap, and took inspiration from space missions.
This recipe keeps it simple though - these are like squares of crumble you can carry around. Genius picnic food.
The recipe is mind-bogglingly easy and brilliant with seasonal fruits (I used raspberries and blackberries from the PYO down the road).
Look! A man, carrying one around, then eating it.
I swear allegiance to the woman who has made fruit crumble portable.
Ingredients/equipment
7in by 10in by 1 inch deep baking tray lined with parchment
Up to a lb of fruit (chopped dried apricots, apples, seasonal soft fruit are good)
10 oz wholemeal plain flour
5 oz porridge oats
1 tsp salt
8 oz butter
4 oz light soft brown sugar (I used golden granulated though - it worked fine)
- Put dry ingredients into a bowl.
- Melt butter in microwave.
- Add to dry ingredients and mix.
- Put just under half into the tray and squish down firmly with fingers.
- Spread fruit on.
- Put rest of oaty mix on top and squish down well - try to cover all the fruit if possible.
- Bake for 25-30 mins at 200 degrees C
- Cool, cut into 15 squares
- Eat, whilst walking around if you wish
July 27th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
mmmmm, I ‘ve got those things in my kitchen right now
July 27th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Nothing wrong with Delia!!!
They look yummy.
Vivienne x
July 27th, 2010 at 4:34 pm
I still go back to Delia for some favourites, time after time. I absolutley LOVE her Summer and Winter books, which are donkeys years old!
July 27th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
I know that recipe well, they taste truly wonderful.
July 27th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
mmm they look good, and might just keep quiet the small people who keep saying \"mummmmmmmmmmmmy I\’m hungry\" xx
I go back to certain Delia classics too, like Dragonfly I love the summer/winter books, there\’s an amazing sparkling wine jelly that is to die for xxx
July 27th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Must give that a try it looks delicious!
Jane
July 27th, 2010 at 5:07 pm
I also seek inspiration from space missions, in the sense that I still dream of reaching Escape Velocity!
Despite my pathetically limited baking skills, I would like to attempt this recipe. One question: are the ounces by weight or by volume? Thanks!
July 27th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I love Delia too and will def. be trying these out, they look truly yummy….maybe for after my run. LOL!
July 27th, 2010 at 5:55 pm
What a wizard idea - I’ll definitely give those a try! Thank you Mrs P
Not a huge Delia fan… I don’t have any of her books but I do find myself checking her web site for recipes now and again.
Just found Cliff’s copy of Delia’s ‘Frugal Food’… might have some retro recipes worth a revival
Celia
xxx
July 27th, 2010 at 6:04 pm
I love Delia from the olden days - the original Complete Cookery Course and the Summer, Winter and Christmas cookbooks.
But recently, she has gone berserk - tinned meat (bleugh), frozen mashed potatoes?? Not for me, thanks very much.
Your fruity crumbly things however, look divine.
July 27th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
Ahhhhhh good old Delia - I swear allegiance too though in these later years sway more towards the Nigella movement.
Portable crumble though - delicious.
Happy holidays,
Nina x
July 27th, 2010 at 6:33 pm
I still use some old fail safe Delia recipes… never tried this one although I do have something similar from an old Cranks recipe book. It uses dried fruits like figs, dates or apricots… yummy!
July 27th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
Nice to see that someone else has smeared pages in their cookbooks…………………….. Portable crumble looks good, very good……………………
July 27th, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Now that definitely looks like a recipe I should be getting Dottie to cook for me! You see, I’ve gone one stage further on the evolutionary process and have a daughter who does the cooking for me now! ;o) Locket xxx
July 27th, 2010 at 9:53 pm
I LOVE fruit crumble. Your squares look divine. Sometimes I’ll make a pan just so that I can grab them for breakfast and not have to mess with actually cooking in the morning before work. My current favorite is blueberry.
July 28th, 2010 at 12:04 am
Hah ha! Another string to add to my ‘What to do with bored children during the Summer Holidays’ bow. Thanks Missus Pebble.
July 28th, 2010 at 12:25 am
This is G’s dream come true: portable crumble! He’s going to love you! K x
July 28th, 2010 at 5:15 am
Yum!!
And if I may be so bold, that is a right fetching photo of Mr. P…
July 28th, 2010 at 7:18 am
Mmmmm, sound ideal, could almost convince myself they were healthy (fruit & oats, ignore the fat…). Another recipe to try, thanks for sharing!
July 28th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Its carrying the custard thats the tricky bit.
July 28th, 2010 at 6:49 pm
In my book, it is DELIA who is the Domestic Goddess… not Nigella .. oh no. No way. I love Delia! The only thing that Nigella is good at in the kitchen is wafting and pouting simultaneously ! xx
July 28th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
I remain loyal to Delia too, I know she isn\’t the coolest but I love how all her recipes actually work! My Complete Cookery Course was the very first cookery book I bought after meeting my husband to be, it has led me through early adventures into cookery and married life and then became the bible of family meals as the children arrived. It is taped together on a regular basis and the pages are well stained and dog eared. It\’s lovely to read of someone else who is a fan of Delia.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Just a thimbleful…
Oh, I wish you had made those on Sunday !!! And I just love cookery books with stains on them, it shows they have been well used! Incidentally, she is known as ’saint Delia’ in our family!
July 28th, 2010 at 11:04 pm
I am so pleased to see you have cookery books which look like mine! I always feel it is the ultimate accolade to have a splattered page but they can be hard to read!
July 29th, 2010 at 10:32 am
could you do this, for the sake of purely hypothetical argument, with really manky defrosted raspberries?
July 29th, 2010 at 11:46 am
Yum, yum, gobble, gobble, pant, gobble, yum, hiccup! That was the sound of me virtually eating oaty squares on the go…delicious. I love Delia’s blueberry muffin cake with strudel topping from the summer collection…especially the strudel topping.
In answer to your question, yes Nora, it bloody all does look like that!
August 1st, 2010 at 10:36 am
Good heavens! Delia looks kinda foxy in that picture there.
My monocle has fair dropped into my cup of darjeeling.
August 7th, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Oh Emma…those look so very delicious and yummy, even have some frozen summer fruit in the freezer which would make some delicious squares, oh Delia, how do I thee….and then I came to my senses, almost a stone off and still another to lose, I cannot even look at these! I think I can smell them though argghhhh
August 8th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
After a cancelled dinner we had a fridge full of raspberries and strawberries, so what better way to use them? (twenty minutes til the binger….)
I love delia dearly, I think because of the fact that she was my Dad’s kitchen go-to gal, and even though I am one of the Nigella brigade (though pretty much only for baking) and a couple of the other newbods, its still Delia I turn to when I want a simple answer to a simple food question!
August 24th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
That photo of Delia is just so seventies. I chose Food and Nutrition as an option at school, and then Delia was a great role model. I remember her cookery slot on Multicoloured Swapshop. I wasn\\\’t too impressed though in later years, when she showed us how to boil an egg!
Very yummy looking crumble squares. x