Apple Crumble

niamhzie

I'm looking for a basic crumble recipe, like on the Junior Cert curriculum. Nothing fancy, just stewed apples, sugar, cinnamon, flour, butter... I have NO idea of what ratios to go with.
My old Home Ec book is long gone, but does anyone know a similar [grammes and millilitres] recipe?
I've tried googling, and all I could find was cheater's recipes that don't involve stewing the apples beforehand- something I thought made my crumble taste much nicer!
All help appreciated! Sorry if I'm breaking guidelines here, but I couldn't find anything using forum search. :v

phormium

Cheater's recipes! I have never stewed the apples beforehand for a crumble, does the crumble mix not get soggy as soon as you put it on from the stewed apples?

By the way for the crumble mix I use half fat to flour, add tablespoon or two of sugar depending on amount I am making and same of porridge oats if you like them. I usually keep a bag of crumble mix in freezer, which I add to each time I make pastry until i have enough. I use the pastry scraps which cant be re-rolled anymore and blitz them in food processor, they are already right ratio of fat to flour so no waste.

Dizzyblonde

Stew your cooking apples in a small amount of water. Add sugar to taste (it depends on how sour your apples are so you have to keep tasting it). Add a pinch of cinnamon if you like. For the crumble topping I use the Odlums recipe, it's really good - although I prefer to use butter instead of margarine.

missquinn

Topping

• 150g Plain White Flour
• 100g Butter
• 50g Light Brown Sugar (for fudge-y-ness!)
• Mixed Spice to personal taste
• Finely grated Zest of Orange

Filling

• Juice of Orange (adds flavour, sweetness, softens apples and acid prevents browning)
• Cooking Apples (number depends of preference for filling)
• Granulated Sugar to personal taste (cheaper than using caster sugar!)

Method

1. Make topping. Mix flour and spice. Rub in butter until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in brown sugar and zest of orange. Leave aside. Alternative: place ingredients in a food processor and blend. Very quick!
2. Preheat oven to 180°C.
3. Prepare filling. Juice zested orange. Place in oven dish. Prepare apples. Add to orange juice and toss together. Add granulated sugar to your preferred level of sweetness.
4. Sprinkle topping evenly over filling.
5. Bake until golden brown. About 20-25 minutes.
6. Serve hot or cold with custard, ice cream, cream, etc.

If you try this recipe, can you let me know what you think?

Thanks!

huskerdu

Hi missquinn,
That looks like a cracking recipe. I like the addition of orange and brown sugar is much better. However, the proportions for the crumble are different to most recipes. There is a lot of flour in yours.

The classic crumble recipe is the Odlums one

175g flour
125g butter
125g sugar

But, its a very forgiving recipe, its a matter of taste.

missquinn

I'm afraid I disagree about there being a lot of flour! The only real difference, proportionally, is the sugar!
If my maths are correct (I am open to correction!), my recipe and the recipe you posted have very similar ratios of flour:butter but about half the quantity of sugar.
My ratios for flour:butter:sugar are 3:2:1.
Using 180g Flour (just a tiny bit more than the Odlum's recipe and for simplicity's sake!), try my recipe with 120g Butter and 60g Brown Sugar.
The proportion/amount of butter is almost the same as the Odlum's recipe (120g) but there is half the quantity of sugar.
My crumble recipe usually ends up being a little fudgy and not the tiniest bit dry!
Happy cooking!

Dizzyblonde

Odlums have a few different recipes for crumble toppings. The one I've been using for years is:
175g flour
125g butter
125g dark brown sugar
125g porridge oats

The addition of porridge oats makes it so much nicer

huskerdu

missquinn wrote: »

I'm afraid I disagree about there being a lot of flour! The only real difference, proportionally, is the sugar!
If my maths are correct (I am open to correction!), my recipe and the recipe you posted have very similar ratios of flour:butter but about half the quantity of sugar.
My ratios for flour:butter:sugar are 3:2:1.
Using 180g Flour (just a tiny bit more than the Odlum's recipe and for simplicity's sake!), try my recipe with 120g Butter and 60g Brown Sugar.
The proportion/amount of butter is almost the same as the Odlum's recipe (120g) but there is half the quantity of sugar.
My crumble recipe usually ends up being a little fudgy and not the tiniest bit dry!
Happy cooking!

Hi, My mistake. Apologies. I misread your recipe completely.
I think 3:2 flour to butter is best, which both are recipes have. Much more flour and it gets dry.
The amount of sugar is a matter of taste.

All this thinking about crumble has made me want one. I am going to try your recipe tomorrow. Thanks

missquinn

Absolutely, a matter of taste! I don't like it too sweet but the brown sugar adds an extra dimension!
If you have rhubarb, try the topping with some ginger instead of mixed spice - delicious!
Sometimes, I take the easy way out and use my food processor to make the topping. Ready in a jiffy! And if you make double, the extra stores well in the fridge in an airtight container ... dessert sorted for the next day or a few days later!
Happy cooking!

curly from cork

I also use stewed apple and in addition a handful or two of frozen strawberries or raspberries .. Yum