Mary Berry’s plum crumble is halved plums baked under a three-ingredient topping of plain flour, butter and granulated sugar at 180°C (160°C fan) for 45 minutes. It serves 4 to 6 from a 25×20cm dish, and Berry says to serve it warm with cream or custard.
Berry published this as her teaching crumble in the Cookery Course (2015), complete with step-by-step photographs showing how to rub in the topping. Her headnote positions it as a starting point: “I sometimes use apricots or blackberry and apple, but the same crumble topping goes well with them all.”
The technique lesson Berry builds into this recipe comes down to one sentence: “Never mash it with your fingers, and don’t make the texture too fine or the topping will be stodgy.” She wants the rubbed-in mixture to look like fine breadcrumbs, not sand, because those slightly coarser pieces are what crisp up in the oven.
Mary Berry Plum Crumble
Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy4-6
servings10
minutes45
minutes370
kcal1
hour10
minutesBerry’s simplest crumble topping across all her books — just flour, butter and sugar, no semolina, no oats, no extras. She also gives an apple crumble variation using muscovado sugar and sultanas with an option for porridge oats or muesli in the topping.
Ingredients
- For the fruit:
750g (1 lb 10 oz) plums, halved and stoned
45g (1½ oz) granulated sugar
2 tbsp water
- For the topping:
225g (8 oz) plain flour
100g (3½ oz) butter (room temperature), cut into cubes
45g (1½ oz) granulated sugar
Directions
- Preheat: Set the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4 (350°F). Put the plums in a baking dish measuring about 25×20cm (10×8 in) and 5cm (2 in) deep. Sprinkle the fruit with the sugar and water.
- Make the crumble: Place the flour in a bowl and add the butter. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the sugar.
- Assemble and bake: Scatter the crumble topping evenly over the plums. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the fruit juices are bubbling. Test the plums with a skewer to see if they are tender; if not, cover the crumble with foil and bake for a further 10–15 minutes. Serve warm with cream or custard.
Notes
- Calories: 750g plums (345) + 45g sugar/fruit (174) + 225g flour (819) + 100g butter (717) + 45g sugar/topping (174) = 2,229 ÷ 6 = 370 kcal per serving
FAQs
Can I make this with blackberry and apple instead of plums?
Berry says you can in the headnote, though she doesn’t give exact quantities for the blackberry and apple version here. Her Apple and Blackberry Crumble in Simple Comforts (2020) uses 700g Bramleys and 600g blackberries for a similar-sized dish, so those proportions work as a guide. The total fruit weight is higher because apples are denser than plums and blackberries release less juice.
She also gives a specific apple crumble variation at the bottom of this recipe: swap the plums for 750g cooking apples and 75g sultanas, and use light muscovado sugar instead of granulated. The muscovado gives a darker, toffee-flavoured crumble that suits apples better than the plain white sugar she uses with plums.
Why does Berry add water to the plums before baking?
The water creates steam underneath the crumble during the first few minutes of baking, which helps the plums start to soften before the topping sets on top. Without it, the plums can stay firm in the centre while the crumble browns, leaving you with crunchy fruit under a finished topping.
Berry doesn’t add water to every crumble though. Her Apple and Blackberry Crumble in Simple Comforts (2020) skips it because blackberries and Bramleys release enough juice on their own. Plums hold their shape more stubbornly, especially if they’re slightly underripe, so that splash of water gives them a head start. It evaporates long before the crumble is done.
How do I know when the plums are properly cooked?
Berry’s method includes a step most crumble recipes skip: “Test the plums with a skewer to see if they are tender.” Push a metal skewer through the crumble and into the fruit. If the skewer slides through the plum without any resistance, they’re done. If it catches, the plums need longer.
She gives a practical fix too. If the topping is already golden but the plums aren’t soft, cover the whole dish with foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. The foil stops the crumble browning further while the trapped heat finishes the fruit underneath. I’ve needed that extra time with firmer plums more often than not, so don’t take the 45 minutes as final.
What’s the difference between this and Berry’s semolina crumble topping?
Berry has a more complex crumble in Mary Berry Cooks the Perfect (2014) that uses a half-and-half mix of flour and semolina, caster sugar rubbed into the crumble, demerara sprinkled on top, and cold butter instead of room temperature. She explains that semolina “adds texture and crunch” and that “cold butter and cold fingertips are vital to prevent the mixture from becoming sticky.”
This Cookery Course version strips all of that away. Room-temperature butter, plain flour, granulated sugar, done. The result is softer and more traditional, the kind of crumble your grandmother might have made without thinking about it. Berry’s semolina version is crunchier and more textured, but this one is faster and uses ingredients everybody already has.
Can I use porridge oats or muesli in the topping?
Berry suggests it herself in the apple crumble variation of this recipe: “Substitute porridge oats or muesli for half the flour.” That means 112g flour and 112g oats, keeping the butter and sugar the same. The oats give a rougher, chewier topping that some people prefer, especially with apple.
She also mentions using “half wholemeal and half white flour” as another swap. I’ve tried the oat version and it works well, though the topping doesn’t crisp up quite as cleanly as pure flour. If you want the oaty texture with more crunch, Berry’s Apple Crumble with Walnuts and Sunflower Seeds from Mary Berry Cooks (2014) bakes the crumble topping separately on a tray before scattering it over the cooked fruit.
How do I store plum crumble?
Berry doesn’t include specific storage notes for this recipe, but her general advice from Simple Comforts (2020) is that crumbles freeze well “assembled but unbaked.” Her Apple Crumble with Walnuts from Mary Berry Cooks (2014) says the crumble topping keeps for a week in an airtight container and the cooked fruit keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge, though she warns that the topping “does not reheat well.”
I make the crumble topping in double batches and freeze half in a freezer bag. When I want a crumble, I put fruit in a dish, scatter the frozen topping straight over the top without thawing, and add 10 minutes to the bake time. It works every time and means crumble is never more than an hour away.
