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Blackberry & Pear Scrumble

Never heard of a scrumble? Half scone, half crumble this freezable fruity pud is perfect to serve with Sunday lunch

By bbcgoodfood · From Open Recipes · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and pear match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 648 recipes mention both. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 10
Prep20 min
Cook50 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter a 9-inch (23 cm) baking dish, or use a similar-sized dish.

  2. Put the Bramley apples, pears, blackberries and the 100g caster sugar in a large saucepan with a splash of water. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is soft.

  3. While the fruit cooks, put the flour in a large bowl. Rub in the softened butter with your fingertips until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs.

  4. Stir in the 200g caster sugar. Mix the milk and vanilla extract together, then add them a little at a time to the flour mixture, stirring with a fork until it forms rough, crumbly clumps.

  5. Spoon the cooked fruit and its juices into the prepared dish and spread it evenly. Scatter the scrumble mixture over the top and sprinkle generously with granulated sugar.

  6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling around the edges. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Apple + peartop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together648 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  2. Pear + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together334 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  3. Milk + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together19,175 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  4. Butter + milktop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together81,222 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, pear, flour, butter, milk, vanilla):

  1. Peachabout as good a flavor fit
  2. Figabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Strawberryabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, pear, flour, butter, milk, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).