As the cool of autumn collapses into the cold of winter, as the late afternoon sunshine burnishes the remaining stubborn leaves on the tree tops to a gorgeous glowy copper, a world is created where the cosy comfort of an apple crumble is simply divine.
While I adore a good crumble with spring and summer fruit, there is nothing quite like the simplicity of the humble apple at this time of year, and apple crumble feels like the crisp white shirt of the crumble world: elementary, yet classic, with hidden depths.
You can, of course, use any apple your heart desires, but it helps to be mindful of how certain apples respond to being cooked: some will hold their shape, while others will collapse into apple sauce. My own personal preference is for mostly firm apples with maybe the smidgiest of sauce. Here I have used a mixture of Pink Ladies, which hold their shape beautifully and have a nice balance of tart and sweet, Granny Smiths which I will always love for their slightly sour kick, and McIntosh because it softens when baked.
Because caramelizing anything bestows a deliciously deep richness, I love to sauté the apples with sugar before baking which will add a lovely rich toffee flavor. And my sidekick of choice for apples is, and always will be, lemon—but then I have no love of cinnamon.
A squeeze of lemon juice goes into the apples, while the lemon zest is added to the simple buttery, crumble topping, differing from my summer fruit crumbles which have the addition of orange zest.
And as for serving the crumble, while spring and summer fruits beg for a healthy dollop of cream or ice cream, for fall and the apple, it’s all about custard…although I would certainly never complain about a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream either!
Apple Crumble
for the filling
- apples – 3-4lb
- butter – 2T
- sugar – 3T
- lemon juice – generous squeeze
for the crumble
- flour – 1 cup
- brown sugar – 1/2 cup
- butter – 1 stick, cold and cut into 8 slices
- salt – 1/4 tsp
- lemon zest – 1 lemon
- Zest the lemon.
- Peel and core the apples and cut into slices of various thickness.
- Melt the butter in a shallow pan and when it starts to sizzle put in the apples. Add the sugar and a hefty squeeze of lemon juice and stir gently to combine, then allow the apples to sit for a few minutes to caramelize at the edges, stirring gently again and cooking briefly until the apples are golden in places.
- Tip the apples into a baking dish. Mine was 11″x8″ at its widest part.
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F.
- Put the flour into a bowl, add the butter and rub together between your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs which hold together lightly when pinched. I like to have some smaller and larger lumps of butter. Stir in the sugar, salt and lemon zest and sprinkle it over the apples. Bake for 45 minutes or until a lovely bubbly golden brown.
- Serve with lashings of custard. Or a scoop of ice cream. Or a glug of cream. Or a dollop of lightly sweetened whipped cream. Or even a spoonful of crème fraîche. Delicious all.
