Cinnamon apple crumble
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
- Peel and core the apples and cut them into 2 cm cubes. Toss them with 30 g of brown sugar, the cinnamon and the lemon juice, then spread them in a baking dish of about 25 cm.
- In a bowl, mix the flour, 100 g of brown sugar and the salt. Add the cold diced butter and rub it in with your fingertips until you get large, sandy crumbs. Don’t form a ball.
- Scatter the crumble topping over the apples in an even layer, without pressing it down.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is deep golden and the apple juices are bubbling at the edges.
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes and serve with hot custard or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Notes
Soft apples scented with cinnamon and a golden, buttery topping that crunches under the spoon: apple crumble is the ultimate comfort dessert. Here is our easy apple crumble recipe, with the right balance of flour, butter and sugar, and only 20 minutes of preparation.
Crumble, a British dessert
Crumble is an English dessert. The British had long baked fruit under a pastry crust, but crumble became truly popular during the Second World War. With rationing, flour, butter and sugar were scarce: a simple layer of sandy crumbs over fruit needed far fewer ingredients than a pie. It has remained a family and school dinner classic ever since.
In the United Kingdom, it is almost always served hot, with custard poured generously over the top. Apple crumble is the favourite, but there are also versions with rhubarb, blackberries or plums.
The easy apple crumble recipe
The crumble topping follows a simple rule that is easy to remember: as much butter as sugar, and a little more flour. Here, 150 g of flour, 100 g of sugar and 100 g of butter. The butter must be very cold, and you rub it into the flour and sugar with your fingertips until it forms crumbs. That is the whole secret of a crisp top.
A quick apple crumble
For a quick apple crumble, don’t cut the apples too small, leave the skin on if they are organic, and make the topping while the oven heats up. With 10 minutes of preparation, the crumble is in the oven. To go even faster, make individual crumbles in ramekins: they bake in 20 to 25 minutes.
Which apples are best for crumble?
You need a slightly tart apple that holds together when cooked while becoming soft. The best apples for crumble in Britain are Bramley apples, very tart cooking apples that turn almost into a purée. Mix them with an eating apple that keeps its shape, such as Braeburn or Cox. Golden Delicious also works, but it is sweeter and breaks down more: use a little less sugar. In France, cooks often choose Boskoop or Reine des Reinettes.
The traditional apple cinnamon crumble
Cinnamon is the classic spice of a traditional apple cinnamon crumble: allow one teaspoon for a kilo of apples. Replacing some of the sugar with demerara or muscovado, an unrefined cane sugar with notes of liquorice and caramel, gives a more fragrant top. A pinch of ginger or nutmeg also goes very well with apple. Discover all the spices in our spice guide.
Apple crumble variations
Apple crumble with flaked almonds
Replace 50 g of flour with 50 g of ground almonds in the topping and scatter 30 g of flaked almonds over the top before baking. The crumble becomes softer inside and crunchier on top.
Easy apple and pear crumble
Replace half of the apples with ripe but firm pears. Pears release more juice: add a tablespoon of cornflour to the fruit so that it thickens.
Apple and oat crumble
This version is very popular in the UK: replace 50 g of flour with 50 g of rolled oats. The crumble is more rustic, crunchier and richer in fibre.
Apple crumble with chocolate or salted caramel
For a chocolate apple crumble, scatter 60 g of dark chocolate chips or chopped hazelnuts over the apples before adding the topping. For a salted caramel apple crumble, drizzle 4 tablespoons of salted caramel over the apples before covering them: it blends with the juices as it bakes.
Butter-free or gluten-free apple crumble
For an apple crumble without butter, replace the butter with 80 g of very cold solid coconut oil, or with 80 g of almond butter: the topping will be a little less crisp but very fragrant. For a gluten-free apple crumble, use a mix of 80 g of rice flour, 30 g of cornflour and 40 g of ground hazelnuts.
Apple crumble in a Thermomix
A food processor or a stand mixer makes the topping in seconds: pulse the flour, sugar, salt and cold butter for 5 seconds at medium speed, just enough to get crumbs. Don’t overdo it, or the dough will form a ball. Then scatter it over the apples.
Apple crumble in the air fryer
In the air fryer, make individual crumbles in ovenproof ramekins. Cook them for 15 to 18 minutes at 170 °C, until the top is golden. If the top browns too quickly, cover with a sheet of baking paper.
How to reheat apple crumble
Crumble keeps for 3 days in the fridge, covered. To reheat it, put it in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes at 160 °C: the top becomes crisp again. Avoid the microwave, which softens the topping. Crumble can also be frozen, baked or unbaked, for up to 3 months.
More apple desserts
Do you love apple desserts? Try the Austrian Apfelstrudel, with its paper-thin stretched pastry, or Kaiserschmarrn served with apple sauce. And for tea time, don’t miss our English scones.
Frequently asked questions
Why isn’t my crumble crisp?
The butter was too soft, or the topping was overworked or pressed down on the apples. Keep the butter cold until the last moment and scatter the topping in crumbs, without pressing.
Should you precook the apples?
It isn’t necessary with 2 cm cubes. If your apples are very firm or cut into large pieces, cook them for 5 minutes in a frying pan with a little butter and sugar before putting them in the dish.
