One of the glories of this pudding is that it can be made without having to own a set of kitchen scales. I’ve given the measurements in tablespoons as well as conventional grams and either will give a great result. It’s that time of year when I’m looking through all the cookery books again for new recipes to use for our lovely crop of autumn fruits. We have lots of family favourite recipes though that we often return to and this crumble is one of them. I’ve been making it for so many years that it’s origin is long forgotten. In this instance I’ve used cooking apples but you could use other fruits such as plums or pears, or even add a few blackberries if you wish. If all else fails, a tin of peaches drained of all but a tablespoon or two of their juice works very well too. However, reduce the sugar a little if you are using any fruit other than cooking apples as the pudding could turn out to be a bit too sweet. If need be you could always add more sugar later.
Serves 2 – 3
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING:
grams: or tablespoons:
80 5 Demerara sugar
50 5 rolled oats
30 3 dried milk powder (eg. Marvel)
40 3 wholemeal or white self raising flour
50 2 softened butter
plus 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon (optional)
INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING:
2 very large or 3 – 4 medium cooking apples
2 tablespoons of Demerara sugar
a sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)
METHOD:
- preheat the oven to 180ºC
- prepare the crumble by mixing all the dry ingredients together into a large mixing bowl
- using your fingers, squish the butter into the dry ingredients for a minute or so. The mixture doesn’t have to be fine and crumbly – it should be a rough texture
- peel and core the apples, chop them into chunks of about 1½-2cms and put them into the bottom of an ovenproof dish
- scatter the sugar and cinnamon over the apples and mix them together
- spoon the crumble mixture over the top of the fruit and then place the crumble into the hot oven, baking it for about 20 minutes or until the crumble is golden brown
Serve straight from the oven with cream, custard or just by itself
Cakes, Bakes and Simple Suppers 