School children to compete for Crumble Rumble Champions title

Apples and blackberries will be plucked from trees and bushes across National Trust estates by teams of school kids before they head back to the kitchen to make the crumble, under the guidance of expert National Trust cooks. The British pud will then be tested by a tasting judge. The winning school's crumble will feature on the menu for visitors to the Trust estate during the autumn. Lynda Brewer, catering development manager for the National Trust who is overseeing the Crumble Rumble, said: "Victory for Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire last year was a tight call with the school only winning by a couple of minutes. "With more children and places taking part this year, the pressure's going to be on for these kids – and our chefs – to produce some speedy yet quality crumbles." "The standards are high; we won't accept uncooked fruit or soggy crumble topping." The time to beat from last year's competition was 63 minutes. The Crumble Rumble follows on from the Trust's involvement in this year's Great British Menu series on BBC Two Daytime that featured 24 chefs from around the UK using the finest produce from farms, gardens and neighbourhoods which surrounded their local National Trust estate or countryside location. This annual event by the National Trust is a fun way of helping children learn about seasonal ingredients and how to tell when fruit is ripe.