Strawberry and Apple Crumble
Ingredients
- 4 apples, Granny Smiths
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- Punnet of strawberries
- 225 gr. (8 oz.) plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 175 gr. (6 oz.) butter
- 50 gr. (2 oz.) granulated sugar
- (If you like a deeper topping use
- the larger amounts in brackets)
- (275 gr./10 oz.) plain flour
- pinch of salt
- (210 gr./7½ oz.) butter
- (60 gr./2½ oz.) granulated sugar
- Preheat oven to 180°/190°C
- I find that the best crumble is made with butter not margarine. Also the food processor seems to make the crumbs too fine, so that is why I suggest doing the crumble by hand. It doesn't take a minute to do.
Method
Peel and cut the apples into chunks and cook with the sugar in 1-2 tbsp. water until softened. Place the apple into your ovenproof dish. Leave to one side. Clean the strawberries and cut into halves. Stir into the apple purée. Check the sweetness is to your liking.
To make the crumble, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour with your fingertips. Continue until the mixture is like large breadcrumbs and forming large pieces (overworking it a little). This will make the topping more crunchy. Stir in the granulated sugar. Where possible make the crumble topping in advance and leave in the fridge, in a polythene bag, to harden.
Spoon the crumble over the strawberry and apple purée just before you put it in the oven. Bake in oven at 180/190°C until lightly browned and crisp. Approx. 20-25 mins. Serve with custard or ice cream and cream.
Crumble Variations:
Apple and cinnamon: Purée apples as above and mix in cinnamon to taste.
Cherry and apple: Mix together apple purée and 1 tin of black cherry pie filling.
Blackcurrant and apple: Mix together apple purée and 1 tin blackcurrant pie filling.
Orange and apple: Peel 3 oranges, take off the pith and cut into segments. Cut into chunks and take out the pips. Stir these into the apple purée together with 3 tbsp. demerara sugar.
Rhubarb: Take about 1 doz. sticks of rhubarb, wash, top and tail and cut into 2.5 cm. (1") pieces. Cook with sugar to taste over a moderate to low heat. This will cook extremely quickly and you want it to keep its shape as much as possible. Keep checking. Drain off excess juice and use on its own or: sprinkle in some ginger to make Rhubarb and ginger crumble or once again add to apple purée for Rhubarb and apple, using 6 sticks of rhubarb.
Fresh Fruit: Use any fruit that is in season, cook slightly draining any juice where necessary and sweeten with sugar to taste. For example: Apricots, Blueberries, Peaches, Raspberries.
The combinations are endless too: Peach and mango, Peach and apricot, Raspberry and apple.