Requires
  • 300 g + 1 tbsp plain flour
  • 225 g soft brown sugar
  • Approx 150 g butter or margarine, room temp
  • 450 g apples (after peeling, coring, cubing. see notes)
  • Optional pinch of cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt, esp if using unsalted butter
Instructions
  1. Mix the dry ingredients for the topping:



  2. Add butter to the flour mix. Rub in with fingers till fully combined but crumbly. Add more butter or flour as needed

  3. Grease a container for the crumble (a large bread tin works pretty well, or a 9" square dish)
  4. Preheat oven 160 °C (fan).
  5. Peel, core, and cut apples. Ideally to 2 cm cubes, but slices (1-2 mm thickness) also work.

  6. Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon together then add to the apples.



  7. Put the apples in the greased container and cover with the crumble mix.
    Lightly pack most of the crumble down then top with a final loose layer, or gently drag a fork through the top layer zen-garden-style to make it *crumbly*.
  8. Bake till crumble is golden brown and apple syrup is bubbling. (40 min?? see notes)
Notes
  • 450 g is about 3-4 big apples or 5-6 small ones. Varies.
  • Any apples will work, but green cooking apples are better for keeping crisp texture and not being over-sweetened by the added sugar. Bramley apples have consistently been the best imo.
  • Can substitute some of the plain flour in the topping with rolled oats for texture.
  • If the butter is slightly colder than room temp, cut into cubes or slices.
  • Margarine does EXACTLY the same job as butter. Easier to combine and doesn't really affect taste. Crumble might be softer and you might need slightly less of it. Do what you want.
  • Really does not take 40 min to bake. In my experience it's like 20. Just keep an eye on the colour of it
  • Highly recommend custard or vanilla ice cream to go with.