Food - Bramble Apple Crumble

September 12, 2014


September signifies the end of summer and a move into Autumn. Food wise this means a move from weekend BBQs and summer pavlovas into Sunday roasts, crumbles and sticky toffee puddings. One of my all time favourites is an apple crumble and at the moment there are an abundance of plums and blackberries to add in too. We're lucky enough to have an old apple tree in our garden which produces lots of fruit. We've also just planted a mixture of fruit trees at our allotment so next year we should have it coming out of ears.


I've tried a lot of recipes over the last couple of years but finally have the ultimate one and it's super super easy. The revelation is that you use the microwave to cook down your fruit and a food processor to make the topping. I've adapted this recipe from Nigel Slater:

You'll need around 1kg of fruit for a big crumble, demarara sugar, butter, rolled oats - see below for quantities. And custard and ice cream to serve.

To prepare your apples: Peel and chop into small segments. Microwave for 7-8 minutes in a bowl with a good sprinkle of sugar and cover tightly with cling film. Stir after 7 minutes and then microwave again for around another 5 minutes, you want them soft but not too mushy or falling apart as they'll continue cooking in the oven. {If you want to add in plums, add them when you stir the apples after 7 minutes. Blackberries don't need stewing down, add these straight to your crumble dish before you put the topping on}.

To prepare your topping:
Using a food processor rather than rubbing the butter and flour together with your fingers means it takes no time at all, you don't have to dig out butter from under your nails after and no matter how warm or cold your butter you get a perfectly textured topping every time. I love oats in the topping too, and a bonus it makes your pudding seem healthier. Blend 75g of butter with 100g plain flour in your processor until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Then stir in 100g demarara sugar and 50g rolled oats. I double these quantities for a large crumble dish.

Cook: 
Put your stewed fruit in the bottom of a dish and top with the crumble mixture, cook for around 40 minutes at 180c/Gas 5 until bubbling. Serve with lashings of hot custard and vanilla ice cream for heaven in a bowl.

R <3 xx


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