Apple crumble is an English countryside pud
Apple crumble is quite literally the first thing that springs to mind when I think of growing up in the English countryside. We lived in a lovely house in a village in Suffolk. It was a bit too remote for us young teenagers, but nevertheless a very picturesque area near the sea. In our garden we were lucky enough to have a small orchard. We had a couple of plum trees and about six or seven Bramley apple trees. If you haven’t ever had the pleasure of having fruit trees in your garden, I think you will find it hard to believe how much fruit they actually produce. To put it mildly, we could have probably opened an apple shop. The one major flaw with Bramley apples, is that they are too sour to eat. They are however great for cooking, and make the most wonderful desserts.
From farm to fork
My mum’s consistent staple dessert for the 15 years that she lived in that house was apple crumble. She would spend hours collecting all the apples, wrapping them in newspaper and then storing them in crates in the shed. If stored properly, apples can last the whole winter and well into the next year. Sometimes we still had last year’s apples when the next years were starting to ripen. We were also particularly popular in the village around apple season. Lots of neighbours and friends would pop past for a bag of apples.
Add nuts for crunch and cinnamon for a pinch of spice
This recipe is a variation of the one my mum used to make in England. Her recipe uses whole wheat flour and oats in the crumble. The whole wheat flour is so much more tasty than white flour, and oats add a lovely texture to the crumble. I have included nuts in my apple crumble as I love the crunchiness and delicious nutty flavour that they bring to the dish. I also add cinnamon both to my crumble and filling. Apple and cinnamon is a match made in heaven. You can also add raisins to the filling if you like, although I personally prefer apple crumble without.
In this recipe I have listed Granny Smith apples in the ingredients. If you are lucky enough to get hold of some Bramley apples, use them instead. They will be slightly more sour, so I would suggest adding an extra 10-20g of sugar to the filling.
Apple Crumble with Nuts and Cinnamon
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Ingredients
- FILLING:
- 750g Granny Smith apples
- 20g light muscovado sugar (add 10g more if using Bramley apples)
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 ½ tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. water
- A little butter for greasing the dish
- TOPPING:
- 120g whole-wheat flour
- 100g light muscovado sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 120g cold butter, cubed
- 70g rolled oats
- 25g whole almonds, roughly chopped
- 25g pecans, roughly chopped
- 25g flaked almonds
- TO SERVE:
- Homemade custard, ice cream or cream
Instructions
FILLING:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).
- Butter a medium-sized ceramic pudding dish lightly (about 26-30cm long).
- Peel and core the apples, and then cut them into rough slices, about 2cm wide. Place in a pot with the sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and water. Cook for about 5 minutes to soften slightly. Set aside to cool.
TOPPING:
- Sieve the flour, pick out any pieces of wheat or twigs from the bran left in the sieve, then add the bran back into the flour. In a large mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt, and whisk to combine and aerate.
- Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips. Shake the bowl to bring any pieces of butter to the top. Alternatively, you can quickly blitz the butter with the dry ingredients in a food processor, until it is just crumbly.
- Add the oats and all the nuts, and rub them into the mixture to combine well. Don’t worry if the flaked almonds break up a little.
- Spread the cold filing evenly in the buttered dish. Top with the crumble.
- Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the crumble is crisp, golden and cooked, and the apple is bubbling round the edges. If the crumble is getting too dark on top, turn down the oven to 160°C (140°C fan).
- Serve hot with homemade custard, ice cream or cream.
