Puddings & Desserts · England-wide

Apple Crumble

Name: Apple Crumble
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 6 Bramley apples, peeled and chunked; 2 tbsp caster sugar; splash of water; ½ tsp cinnamon; Crumble: 180g plain flour, 120g cold butter, 90g demerara sugar, pinch of salt; Custard, cream or ice cream, to serve

Britain’s most-baked pudding — born when rationing killed the pie, perfected by every family since. Bramleys beneath a rubble of butter, flour and sugar.

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 40 min
Total: 55 min
Yield: Serves 6
Difficulty: Easy
Era: Wartime invention

Ingredients

6 Bramley apples, peeled and chunked
2 tbsp caster sugar; splash of water; ½ tsp cinnamon
Crumble: 180g plain flour, 120g cold butter, 90g demerara sugar, pinch of salt
Custard, cream or ice cream, to serve

Method

Oven190°C375°FFan 170°CGas 5

Simmer the apples with the sugar, water and cinnamon for 5 minutes until just starting to slump. Tip into a baking dish.
Rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles rough breadcrumbs; stir in the sugar.
Scatter the crumble loosely over the fruit — never press it down.
Bake at 190°C / 375°F (fan 170°C, gas 5) for 35–40 minutes until the top is golden and the juices bubble up at the edges.
Serve with custard, and brook no argument about it.

Oven temperatures are given in Celsius, Fahrenheit, fan and gas mark throughout. Quantities are metric, as cooked and written in the UK.