Apple Crumble Recipe

There’s no more satisfying dessert than a really good apple crumble with custard to finish off a Sunday lunch. Fruit crumbles can be made with all sorts of fruit: plums, pears, rhubarb and even peaches, but an apple crumble is the best of all. It can be made easily from the standard ingredients you have in the cupboard, so is perfect when you have last minute guests to lunch and need to throw together a pudding quickly.

Traditional crumble topping is made with just flour, butter and sugar, but you can improvise by adding oats or muesli and even ground almonds for a richer apple crumble. However you can’t beat the traditional plain crumble for simplicity, a satisfying foil to the juicy apples and creamy custard.

Recipe for Apple Crumble

Ingredients
1kg / 2.2lbs granny smith or bramley apples
100g / 4oz caster sugar (less if the apples are sweet)
juice of half an orange (about 1 tablespoon or so)
pinch cinnamon
100g / 4oz butter chilled
150g / 5oz plain flour
75g / 3oz demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C / 375F.

Make the crumble topping first. Dice the chilled butter into the flour. Rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar. Chill in the fridge while you prepare the fruit.

Peel and core the apples and cut into slices or chunks. Toss them with the caster sugar, pinch of cinnamon and orange juice.

Butter a 1.5 litre ovenproof dish or roasting tin.

Pile the fruit into the dish and then spread the crumble topping over the top, so that all the fruit is covered.

Bake for 40 minutes or so, until the topping is golden and the fruit is sizzling.

Give it ten or more minutes to cool before serving with custard, cream or ice-cream.

Variations on the filling
Substitute some of the apple for blackberries in season, for a really luscious crumble.
Add a handful of raisins to the apple.
Plums and pears work well combined with apple too. Just use half and half.

Variations on the topping
After rubbing in the butter to the flour add 75g / 3oz of oats, muesli or ground almonds to the topping.
Add spices to your crumble topping: try ginger, cinnamon or nutmeg according to your own tastes.

Want to taste some other classic British puddings? Why not visit Lambs at the Market restaurant in Nottingham.