CRUMBLE AND CREAM

Can you eat crumble with whipped cream? Well, of course you can, the question is more whether you should. Definitely not, in my view.

For those who don't know, a crumble is an English pudding. On top of a fruit base is a mix of fat, flour and sugar, mixed into a "crumbly" mixture; the whole thing is then baked in an oven. What makes it tasty is the contrast between the sweet topping and the tart fruit. So rhubarb is good, or cooking apples, or - my favourite - blackberries and apple mixed together. Next to the hot crumble you have custard, cold cream or ice cream. Or, if you are a bit piggy, a combination of them. When I go on my annual Lake District walking tour (more on that another time), we stay at a pub that allows you to have all three at once. That's very piggy; but a man is allowed to be piggy once a year with his mates, in my view.

But not whipped cream, that is simply too fluffy. You want a solid dairy product to match the slightly "school dinner" solidity of the crumble. My wife is Danish and so can be forgiven for getting it wrong, when she suggested the menu for dinner last night. But I soon put her right, when I made a rhubarb crumble with vanilla ice cream for her and her sisters.

There is only one thing better than hot crumble, and that is cold crumble leftovers. I hope you can hear me slurping, since it is what I am having, together with a cup of coffee, as I write this and watch the Sweden/Czech Republic ice-hockey semi-final at the same time. Mmm.

Walter Blotscher