Recommendations
Blackberry and apple crumble with Niepoort Ruby Port
On the plate is a warm crumble of blackberries and apple under a crust of flour, oats, butter and brown sugar. The ruby port sets dark fruit and residual sugar against it, which catch the acidity of the apple.
From the shelf
The bottle
The Ruby from the house of Niepoort comes from the Douro. In the classification of the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto, ruby is the youngest red style: the wine matures for about three years in cask, so it keeps its deep colour and its aromas of red and dark fruit, and is full-bodied. Port is made by stopping the fermentation of the must with grape spirit, which leaves residual sugar in the wine, and according to the same institute the alcohol content usually lies between 19 and 22 percent. We could not verify an exact alcohol percentage or the grape composition for this bottling in a source from the house itself, so we leave them out here. For ruby port the institute recommends a serving temperature of 12 to 16 degrees.
The combination
Why this works together
A crumble of blackberries and apple is a sour dish with a sweet crust, and that calls for a glass that has something to offer on both sides. The residual sugar of a young ruby catches the fruit acidity of the apple, so the crumble comes across rounder; the taste research by Green and colleagues from 2010 shows that sweetness in a flavour mixture takes the sharp edges off the other flavours. At the same time, the dark fruit of the blackberries lies close to what a ruby brings itself, and that is the bridge between plate and glass. The crust contains sixty grams of butter and the oats add a roasted note to it; its fat is cleared by the alcohol of the port, and the protein and fat in the mouth make the young tannin softer than it seems from the glass. Because both sides are young and fruity, it remains a simple plate with a simple glass, and that is exactly the intention here.
At the table
The dish
- For 4 people
- Ready in 50 minutes
- Type dessert
What you need
- 60 g cold butter, diced
- 120 g flour
- 20 g rolled oats
- 80 g light brown soft sugar, of which 50 g for the crumble and 30 g for the fruit
- 280 g apple
- 150 g blackberries
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Mix the flour, the oats and 50 g of the soft brown sugar in a bowl and add the cold cubes of butter.
- Rub the mixture between your hands until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs and put it away in a cool place.
- Peel the apples, remove the core and cut them into small pieces.
- Mix the apple with the blackberries, the cinnamon and the remaining 30 g soft brown sugar and divide the fruit over four small ovenproof dishes or one large ovenproof dish.
- Spoon the crumble over the fruit and press it down lightly.
- Bake the crumble for about twenty-five minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the apple soft.
- Let the crumble cool a little before you serve it, so that the fruit juice has set somewhat.
In the glass
Serving
Serve the ruby between 12 and 16 degrees, the band that the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto uses for the ruby styles; put the bottle in the fridge for half an hour beforehand. A small tulip-shaped glass, filled to a third, keeps the fruit together. Decanting is not necessary, because a ruby has aged only briefly in cask and gives hardly any sediment. After opening, according to the same institute, ruby keeps well for eight to ten days; close the bottle and store it cool and dark.
Everything about Niepoort Ruby PortBack to Recommendations from ’t Bockje
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