There’s a million things I wanted to teach my children, yet the only thing they seem to want to learn from me is a crumble recipe! If there’s one thing that has me feeling autumnal, it’s a homemade crumble.
Autumn is easily my favourite season to get in the kitchen and rustle up lots of hearty dishes! A hot bowl full of fruity, crumbly goodness hits the spot every time.
After a week of being begged to make this crumble recipe every day (no exaggeration… my son Jacob is addicted) I thought I would share it.
It sounds a lot fancier than it is, which is my favourite thing about a crumble:
It’s an undeniable crowd pleaser!
I love that it becomes a whole family activity. You can pick the apples yourself (if you don’t have fruit trees in your garden there’s always a local PYO that will be glad of your business!) Then there’s all getting your hands dirty by making the crumble. Little chefs hats are of course optional, but definitely encouraged.
*The salted caramel is probably best left to mum, though… as is licking the bowl. Taste testing is vital, after all, and an essential in any good crumble recipe.
The Crumble Recipe: What You’ll Need
For the crumble:
200g demerara sugar
200g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
400g flour
100g rolled oats
*You can play about with these quantities as long as you keep the ratios the same – but there’s five of us and we all like seconds! I tend to make twice as much and freeze it for when we have fresh fruit in and we get a sweet craving!
For the fruit in caramel:
800g apples, peeled and chopped (I like a mixture of brambly, granny smith and braeburn, but you can just go with whatever you have in)
200 blackberries (lovely and free from hedgerows at this time of year)
80g unsalted butter
80g soft brown sugar
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
for the salted caramel sauce:
125ml water
125ml thick/heavy cream
200g caster sugar
1/2 tbsp good quality vanilla extract (to your taste)
1tsp seasalt (I use pink Himalayan seasalt, but regular will do just fine… I just like slightly pretentious kitchen ingredients in my cupboard. Table salt really doesn’t flavour well, though)
Now, you don’t have to make the salted caramel. This is a perfectly delicious crumble recipe without it! Cream, ice-cream and custard are all classics… but the salted caramel is quite special.
In all honesty, sending your eleven year old up a tree to procure some apples is the hardest part. It’s this easy:
Let’s get it made…
- Put the butter and sugar into a deep frying pan on a low-medium heat. Allow them to melt into a caramel, then add the fruit and ground cinnamon.
- Simmer for 5-7 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally, then take off the heat. Cook this until you have the texture you prefer.
- Now for the crumble: Pop the dry ingredients in a large bowl and stir just to mix through. Add the butter and rub into a crumb texture (but don’t overwork the mix)
- Pour the fruit mixture into the bottom of your dish and sprinkle over your crumble. Cook at 180’C for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- While that’s in the oven, make the caramel: Add the sugar and water to a pan and melt over a medium heat without stirring (stirring could cause the sugar to crystalise) The water should all evaporate in 6-8 minutes, leaving an amber-coloured liquid.
- Add the vanilla to the cream.
- Remove the caramel from the heat and pour in the cream while stirring vigorously, then sprinkle over the seasalt. Stir through and leave to cool.
- Serve, eat and enjoy… preferably on a Sunday, after a long chilly walk and a roast!
Et viola – a simple but delicious crumble recipe, a twist on a classic. It’s a simple dish that brings us great happiness – and it’s guaranteed to go down well at your table too. Let me know if you give it a go!
Love, Helen
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