Apple Crumble

This is one of the basic recipes that my eldest (the apple monster) have been requesting me to make for the longest time. Very easy to do therefore very little chances of having a disaster. Probably the only thing that slowed me down is the peeling and coring of the small Cox apples I got from the supermarket. When I see that apple peeler/corer again in a shop I gotta remind me to buy it to save myself from the peeling chores.

Anyway, back to the dessert, it's like an apple pie without the crust. You just mix the apple slices with the sugar and spices, tip everything in a baking pan then top with the 'crumble' which is a mixture of flour, butter, sugar, and more spices. You can imagine the infinite number of variations you can do with this basic recipe like have different combination of fruits, cheese or ground nuts in the toppings, etc.

I used the recipes of Brian Turner from his Favourite British Recipes and Delia Smith's How to Cook as guidelines to come up with something according to our tastes. I seriously thought that there were too much toppings but as when we were eating it we kinda liked the fact that there's a lot of it to have with the apples. I used Cox apples exclusively and it came out a bit watery underneath which I didn't mind but was noted by the apple monster. So maybe next time I'll mix in a few tablespoon of flour. Undeniably, this is still on a tweaking stage but it's quite good as it is now. Ice cream or warm custard can be usually found married to it but we didn't bother with that. Being single can be nice. :)




Apple Crumble

1 kg  baking apples - peeled, cored, and sliced
100 g  [1/2 cup] packed light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Crumble:
225 g  [scant 1 1/2 cups] self-raising or plain flour
115 g  [scant 1/2 cup] unsalted butter
115 g  [1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp] demerara sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

• Preheat oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
• For the crumble:
  1. Put the flour in a bowl. Cut the butter in with pastry blender or two butter knives then rub in by hand until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
  2. Mix the sugar and cinnamon then add in this mixture to the flour. Combine well. Set aside.
• For the apple base:
1. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.
2. Toss the sliced apples in this mixture.
• Tip the apples in a 7 x 11-inch baking pan (or any size of baking pan as long as everything fits in).
• Pour the flour mixture on top and pat it down well.
• Bake for 40 minutes or until top is golden brown and apples are bubbling. Serve warm.