Berry Crumble, For Breakfast or Dessert

Knowing how to make a simple berry crumble is an invaluable life skill. It completely elevates your dessert-making from the lowly realm of boxed brownie mix and cut-and-bake cookies, but it's low-effort and just as quick. With the summer heat lingering in SoCal and blackberries still in season, this is a perfect time to make a berry crumble. Serve it warm with homemade whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for a perfect dessert, or eat the leftovers cold for breakfast with a cup of coffee.

Berry Crumble, adapted from Jacques Pépin
Berries (use mostly blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries)
One or two pound cakes depending on the size of your baking dish
Orange juice (about two tablespoons to 1/3 cup)
Apricot preserves, about half a jar, depending on the size of your dish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the apricot preserves (or, for a less sweet and more citrus-y crumble, orange marmalade) and the berries in a bowl so that the berries are coated in preserves.

Fill your baking dish 3/4 deep with the berry/preserve mixture.

Pour the orange juice in slowly -- you don't want the crumble to get too wet, and you may not need much (depending on how many berries you used, two tablespoons to about 1/3 cup). Spread the juice around so that it just coats the berries and the bottom of the dish.

Break the pound cake up with your fingers into rough pieces and cover the berries completely.

Bake for about half an hour, or until the pound cake turns crispy and golden brown. Enjoy!