The beauty of crumbles is that they are very easy to make, and good-tempered enough to have their cooking time and temperature adjusted a little to fit in with the rest of the menu. The only thing to make sure of is that the top is nicely golden, but not too brown. The recipe here uses apple and orange but any type of fruit can be used.
Serves 4 - 6
700 g (1 1/2 lb) cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
grated rind and juice of 1 orange
25 g (1 oz) light soft brown sugar
100 g (4 oz) plain flour
50 g (2 oz) plain wholemeal flour
75 g (3 oz) butter
40 g (1 1/2 oz) icing sugar, sieved
1.25 ml (1/4 tsp) ground cinnamon
1. Put the apples, orange rind and juice and sugar into a 1.4 litre (2 1/2 pint) ovenproof serving dish.
2. Put the flours into a mixing bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the icing sugar and cinnamon, making sure all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
3. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the apple. Bake at 200°C (400°F) mark 6 for 30 - 40 minutes, until the topping is crisp and golden. Serve hot with fresh cream or custard.
VARIATIONS
1. Use any type of fresh fruit such as pears, rhubarb, plums, apricots, damsons or gooseberries.
2. Add the grated rind of an orange or lemon to the crumb mixture before sprinkling it over the fruit.
3. Replace 75 g (3 oz) of the flour with rolled oats, bran flakes or oatmeal.
4. Add 25 g (1 oz) chopped nuts such as almonds, walnuts or brazils to the crumble topping mixture.
5. Replace the cinnamon with mixed spice or ginger and add to the flour before rubbing in the butter.
