“And there never was an apple, in Adam’s opinion, that wasn’t worth the trouble you got into for eating it.” ~ Neil Gaiman
A crumble is one of the most un-daunting desserts I will offer at Kitchen Therapy.
An apple crumble is a classic English dessert, and can be made with any kind of fruit. The crumble has its origination from the World War 2 during the time of food rationings. Typically served with ice cream, custard or cream, this dish offered a quick dessert with lesser portions of ingredients than a pastry would require. In order to save more flour, oats or breadcrumbs were added. Thus we have the crispy crumble!
The crumble is my easy way out to serving an eggless dessert and can be fancied up with some raisins and cranberries, and served in individual mini ramekins.
The stewed apples and the crumble can be made individually beforehand and assembled and baked within 25 minutes, and so is an ideal option for big dinner parties.
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The Recipe
Serves Yields: 6 mini ramekins | Prep Time: 30 mins | Cook Time: 30 mins
Ingredients
- Filling:
- 2 ½ apples, peeled and cubed into bite-size
- Handful of raisins
- Handful of dried cranberries
- ¾ cup water
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- 3 tbsp sugar
- ½ vanilla pod
- 1 whole orange
- Crumble:
- ½ cup flour
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- 80g cold butter, diced
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- Handful of sliced almonds
- To Serve:
- Vanilla Ice Cream / Cream / Custard
Instructions
- Cut the orange into half and squeeze the juice into a cooking pot (removing the seeds).
- Then add the whole peel into the same pot, along with the water, apples, cranberries, raisins, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla.
- Let the apples stew until soften enough.
- The water will have thickened slightly.
- Once done, remove the orange peels and throw away and set the pot aside.
- For the crumble, whisk the flour, oats, cinnamon and salt together.
- Rub the butter into the mixture creating thick crumbs.
- With a fork, mix in the brown sugar and almonds to create more texture.
- Spoon the stewed apples into ramekins, ensuring some liquid goes in as well. Fill by three-fourth level of the ramekin.
- Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top, creating a layer of your preferred thickness.
- Bake in a preheated oven of 200°C for 10-15 minutes, or until the top has baked well and the syrup is bubbling with the apples.
- Serve hot with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream/custard/cream.
- NOTE: I count about half an apple per regular sized ramekin, and a little less than that for a mini ramekin. You can make both components beforehand and store in the fridge separately until baking time.
- When filling the ramekins with the stewed apples, ensure to also add some of the liquid in as well to avoid the apples from drying out in the oven.
