Julia Donaldson was (possibly still is) my son’s favourite author, and she’s getting on for mine too. We’ve had many a happy afternoon, reading The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child, Room on the Broom and more besides. We have so many versions of these books, mini hard copies, large paperbacks, and our favourite was always the sound books, illustrated by Axel Scheffler’s iconic drawings.
As a cherry on top, at Christmas, these stories have been turned into gorgeous animations with amazing soundtracks and narration, that we used to watch on a loop they were so good. If you haven’t already – check them out.
I think I have mentioned before that son No 2 is quite a picky eater, so one year I thought I would play a blinder and make Gruffalo Crumble – inspired by the book. (That would be a pimped up apple and blackberry crumble to the rest of us) And this is my offering in response to Lorna’s #Ginspiration writing prompt this week of a fall food memory. Her site, Gin & Lemonade, with a twist, is definitely worth checking out.
In the style of (and with apologies to) Julia Donaldson, here is the story of how it came into being.
The Gruffalo Crumble
A Boy raided biccies, instead of eating healthy food
His Mum saw this and though “Thats not good”
“Whats that you’ve got there, my wee son?”
“It looks very much like a big sticky bun”
“Thats very astute of you Mum, but look
I’m off to read my Gruffalo book”
“You are reading a book?”
“A book, you say?”
“Off you go son,
I won’t stand in your way”
“Silly old Mum, lets me off the hook,
As long as I tell her I’m reading a book!”
On went the boy, his brother saw the bun.
A plan was hatched, he would have some fun.
“Where are you going to, my wee bro?”
“Shall we play a game on the Nintendo?”
“Thats exceptionally kind of you bruv, but no.”
“I’m having a game of Gruffalo”
“A Grufffalo game? Ugh that sounds boring!”
“Two minutes of that, and I’d be snoring!”
“Silly old Bruv, doesn’t he know?”
“Even I’m too old for The Gruffalo!”
On went the boy, with his bun, to his room
His Dad saw the bun, and thought, “that’s mine soon!”
“Where are you off to, my little Tyke?”
“C’mon, I’ll take you fishing for Pike”
“That’s terribly good of you Dad, but no”
“I’m going online as The Gruffalo”
“Online? You mean you have fixed the connection?”
“My Boy! You have my deepest affection!”
“Ha! I’ve got a silly old Dad!”
“I knew I’d district him if I fixed the iPad”
“What’s this? Oh no, I’m completely baffled”
“While I wasn’t looking, my bun has been snaffled!”
“By a sneaky creature, on four little paws”
“He’s run off with my bun in his crafty wee jaws”
“He has furry feet, and he’s light on his toes”
“He’s smelt out my bun with his sensitive nose”
“He might look cute, but he’s a greedy hog”
“I know the culprit, it’s my pet dog”
“Mum, I’m hungry, and I’ve finished my book”
“I don’t suppose you have started to cook?”
“Yes son, I heard your tummy grumble”
“So I thought I’d make you Gruffalo Crumble.”
A Mum took a walk through the deep dark wood
She had spotted some blackberries
And the blackberries looked good.
Gruffalo Crumble
- 900g Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
- 25 blackberries Hold 5 back for the topping
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 4 tbsp plain flour
- 85g unsalted chilled butter, cubed
- 85g soft brown sugar
- 50g oats
- 25g chopped hazelnut
- 1 green grape
- ice cream
- 2 ice cream cones
Method
- Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. In a bowl, mix the apples with the lemon juice, blackberries, cinnamon, 1 tbsp of flour, 15g of butter and 1 tbsp of brown sugar. Place in a small glass baking dish, cover with cling film and cook in the microwave for 5 mins at 600W, or slightly less time if you have a higher wattage.
- Meanwhile, rub the remaining flour, butter, sugar, oats and nuts with your fingers to a crumble-like but chunky texture.
- Spoon the cooked apples into an ovenproof dish. Scatter over the crumble and bake in the oven for 20 mins until crisp.
- Cut off the two ice cream cones to make ‘horns’ and place at one end of the pie dish, arrange the remaining 5 blackberries (purple prickles) and the green grape (poisonous wart) on top of the crumble mix
- Serve with (Owl) ice cream .
Sounds yummy.
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Yep, I am quite partial to a good crumble, Gruffalo or otherwise 🙂
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I do a mean gooseberry crumble myself.
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Ooo lovely 😊 I love gooseberries
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Me too. I grow two different types: one green and one red.
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LOVE THIS! We are a Gruffalo house, too. Still more fun than The Big Brother house. And anything with hazelnuts is a must-try for me.
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Aw thank you xxx I was just thinking, two smarties could make orange eyes? I picked some more blackberries yesterday, so hopefully I will get the chance to make it and update the post with a photo 🙂
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My grandson loves all of Julia Donaldson’s books and so do I! I’m going to try this Gruffalo Crumble and maybe get Ethan to help me make it. Thanks!
Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond
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Ha! Fantastic- it’s all in the presentation 😂
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I’m with you on the crumble. Entirely ace. But the Poem. Sooper
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😁 thank you!
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I LOVE this!!!
And a good crumble too!!!
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A bit of craic lol, but who doesn’t like crumble on a cold day 😁
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😍
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Fab post for the prompt! I love the story behind this and the crumble sounds great. 😊
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Thank you! It’s amusing me too, and just shows – but for the prompt, I would probably never have written that 😆
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creative! sounds like so much fun making those! wonderful post!
please visit: storiesfromd.wordpress.com
THANK YOU!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Love this and we have blackberries on the local bushes Too!
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It’s a brilliant year for blackberries, I thought it was going to be rubbish after all the dry weather, but they are absolutely fabulous.
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We have just gotten ours today and currently making jam☺
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Ha! Me too, though not blackberry. I needed to free up space in the freezer and have used my strawberries 🍓
14 pots of jam later…
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That is a whole lot of jam😊
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Yup. Is it bad I’m looking at it thinking “Type 2 – right there!”
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Not bad🤣
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Will be making the crumble too
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Awww 🙂 hope they find it fun xxx 😍
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Awesome! my eldest sons favourite book which became a family favourite, the animations have lulled them to sleep many a night and saved my voice! great post!
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I think in the end, Room on the Broom became his absolute favourite, and I do love it too. Those animations though, I happily have them on with or without kids, I adore the music in the background, it’s so soothing.
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Exactly! I love them all, it is wonderful to see them so engaged to something so beautifully made! great for children who have an aversion to reading as they watch the films and then you can introduce the characters and books!
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This is fantastic! So clever, I really enjoyed readying.
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Thank you very much, that’s very kind 😊
It’s a pretty accurate snapshot of my family 😆
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Yeah!! My lad loves the Gruffalo, the Gruffalo’s Child and the sound book Gruffalo Growl! And! We currently have the treat of picking blackberries from the bushes on the walk back from nursery school 💙 :BORING FACT: blackberries were always called brambles when I was a kid in NE England but in Cumbria they call them blackites 😉
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Totally familiar with. brambles but not blackites, do you think they make shit up for non Cumbrians? 😁
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I love the idea of using books to make a child try new things. Maybe I’d have been less of a fussy eater if my mum had tried that, haha.
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Thank you, I’d try anything lol! My mum would have had to read up on Narnia to keep me happy, it might have… or I might have just pigged out on Turkish delight lol!
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In hindsight a lot of my fussiness as a child was due to serious food anxiety (which I still have, to a lesser extent), sensory issues, and a bunch of food intolerances we didn’t know about until later. But there were still plenty of things I COULD have eaten that I didn’t, and maybe a clever trick would’ve helped. (I read EVERYTHING; I ate like three things.)
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What à brilliant poem, and à great take on the story. Really good 👍👍
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Thank you, it’s a very accurate description of my family, no artistic license necessary 😂😂😂
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Not only is this very clever I need a desert for today however.
I am just short of some things in the Blackberry department,
so I am off on my bike to fulfill the requirement.
Great pos luvvverly jubbly. 😂😁😇t
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Happy foraging 🙂
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P.s. we need a picture!
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Yes we are – I keep meaning to make one and get a good photo, but I have no horns, I must get something, figure out an alternative to ice cream cones! I’m very glad you like it!
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Pastry horns! Sound better for adults … dipped in egg white and sugar, bake on a separate tray to place at the end. Job done! 🤣😂
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This is great!
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😝 its a very precise insight into family life here lol!
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Lol… Sounds like a riot.
I’ll have to make gruffalo pie though. There older now but would appreciate the humour of it.
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This is just brilliant. What a fab little rhyme!
Room On The Broom is one of my nieces favourites.
Oh and I do love a crumble 😊
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