Ultimate apple crumble
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
Ultimate apple crumble
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Ingredients
- 4 medium Bramley apples (about 700g), peeled, cored and quartered
- 25g caster sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- zest and juice of ½ lemon
- 3 tart eating apples such as Braeburn’s, peeled, cored and quartered
- 1 tsp butter, for greasing
For the crumble topping
- 200g plain flour
- 125g cold unsalted butter, diced
- 125g light muscovado sugar
Step by step
Prepare the crumble up to the end of stage 3 and chill until ready to cook.
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Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5.
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Roughly chop the Bramley apple quarters into a saucepan (cut each quarter into 3 or 4), and add the sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice, plus 4-5 tablespoons water. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the apples have started to soften. Remove from the heat, add the eating apples (cut each quarter in half first), mix together then tip into a buttered baking dish (about 20cm square on the base). Let the fruit cool down before adding the crumble topping.
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Put the flour and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl, then rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, then scatter the topping over the cooled fruit, but don’t press it down
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Bake in the oven for 40 minutes until the topping is golden and crisp, and the juices are starting to bubble up around the edges.
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Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving, or the fruit filling will be dangerously hot. Serve with your choice of custard, ice cream or pouring cream.
