“I’ve got a load of blackberries in the freezer, shall I make a crumble or a pie?” says mother.

“Crumble!”s and “Pie!”s are emitted from various corners of the house. We cannot decide. When the house is at its busiest, there are eight of us all pointing out the merits of pastry or sweet crumble topping. I’m pretty sure this scene plays out in every household on a regular basis – because how can you choose between a crumble and a pie?

And even if you manage it…it doesn’t necessarily stop there. Pastry on top or just the bottom, making it a tart? What goes into the crumble? A standard sugar, butter, and flour concoction is fine but I prefer my crumble topping to be like the lightly spiced lovechild of shortbread and flapjack.

In short, fruit-based puddings cause chaos. The easiest way to settle it is the crumble tart.

Much of the internet is alight with strawberry and rhubarb at the moment, to the point that I’ve had enough of that pairing despite having not yet eaten it. As much as I try to eat according to the seasons, I also like to cook with produce that’s available all year round – and often, it’s cheaper. With that in mind, this recipe uses frozen raspberries and tinned peaches, giving you a fruit hit without the extortionate prices. Served up with cream or Greek yoghurt and honey, it’s a fancy looking dessert without too much fuss. Perfect.

Serves 10, using a 10 inch fluted loose bottomed flan tin

Will keep for two days in an airtight container. 

Ingredients

170g plain flour
45g unsalted butter
40g lard
20g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
cold water

150g plain flour
45g caster sugar
10g dark brown sugar
50g butter
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
40g oats

500g peaches (2 tins of peach halves)
200g frozen raspberries

Method

1) In a food processor, mix together the flour, butter, and lard by pulsing until the texture of breadcrumbs. Add in the sugar and salt, and pulse once more to combine.
2) Add the egg to the mixture, and again pulse to combine. Next, add cold water about a tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. Tip it out onto clingfilm, wrap it up, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
3) While the pastry chills, prepare the crumble topping. Rub together the flour, sugars, and butter until they resemble bread crumbs. Stir in the ginger, cinnamon, and oats.
4) When the pastry is chilled, tip it out onto a well-floured surface and roll out to about 4mm thick.
5) Using the rolling pin to support the pastry while you lift it, line the flan tin. Gently lift the pastry and push it into the corners, then roll the rolling pin across the lip of the tin to take off excess pastry. Prick the bottom with a fork and return to the fridge for a further 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 160C.
6) While the pastry case chills, slice the peach halves into 8-10 slices per half.
7) Remove the pastry case from the fridge and line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Blind bake for about 10 minutes, until it turns a pale golden brown with no greyish patches in the base.
8) Remove from the oven and allow to cool until just lukewarm before filling with fruit, laying the peach slices in first and then covering with the raspberries. Cover with crumble and return to the oven for 30 minutes, until the crumble is a deep golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to a wire rack to cool.
9) Serve with yoghurt, ice cream, or cream.