Introduction
Apple crumble is soft, sweet apples baked under a crunchy, buttery topping. It is one of the easiest desserts there is, ideal in autumn and winter when apples are cheap. Serve it warm with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream.
It is a British dish, said to have become popular during the Second World War: with flour, fat and sugar rationed, a crumble topping needed less of them than pastry for a pie. It remains a favourite pudding in Britain and Ireland. The same topping works with plums, rhubarb, pears or berries.
Ingredients
For the fruit:
- 1 kg apples (about 6), a mix of cooking and eating apples if you can
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- juice of ½ lemon
For the topping:
- 150 g plain flour
- 50 g rolled oats
- 100 g cold butter, in small cubes
- 100 g brown sugar
- a pinch of salt
Tools
- A mixing bowl
- A baking dish of about 20 × 25 cm
- An oven
Preparation
- Heat the oven to 190 °C (170 °C fan).
- Peel and core the apples and cut them into chunks. Toss them in the dish with the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice.
- In the bowl, rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the oats, sugar and salt.
- Scatter the topping evenly over the apples without pressing it down.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is golden and the fruit bubbles at the edges.
- Let it rest for 10 minutes and serve warm.