My Apple Crumble Recipe

This time of year I crave stodgy food. I love thick soups with lots of home made bread or on a really cold wintry day beef stew and dumplings and as for desert I love jam roly poly or a fruit crumble with custard. Winter in our house is most definitely about comfort food. Last night I decided that we needed to create and eat our first crumble of the year.

Here is a recipe that I have used for making apple crumble for the last 4 years. It is really easy to make and will easily share between 4 - 6 people depending on how big each portion is. 

Here is the ingredients that you will need:

• 300g / 10.5oz plain flour
• A pinch of salt
• 175g / 6oz unrefined brown sugar
• 200g / 7oz unsalted butter
• Knob of butter for greasing
• 450g / 1lb apples, peeled, cored and cut into pieces
• 50g / 2oz unrefined brown sugar
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 pinch of ground cinnamon

Here is the method that you should use to create your crumble:

• Preheat the oven to 180c / 350f / Gas 4.
• Place the flour and sugar in a large bowl and mix well.
• Taking a small amount of butter at a time rub into the flour mixture. Keep rubbing until the mixture looks breadcrumbs.
• Place the fruit in a large bowl and sprinkle over the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Stir well being careful not to break up the fruit.
• Grease a 24cm / 9in oven proof dish with the knob of butter.
• Spoon the fruit mixture into the bottom, then sprinkle the crumble mixture on top.
• Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until the crumble is browned and the fruit mixture bubbling.

You can serve your crumble with thick cream or custard. I personally prefer custard but it tastes just as yummy with cream. You can use a different fruit in your crumble too if you don't like apples or if you want to add to the apples. The boys love apple and blackberry crumble.

The only thing I hate about making a crumble is peeling and cutting up the fruit. But thanks to OXO and their Y Peeler and Apple Divider this job is so much easier and quicker and no longer a job I despise. 

The Y Peeler is priced at £6. It is really good value for money as it can be used to peel all fruits and vegetables - even those with tough skins. I found the peeler very easy to use and being left handed this is something I have struggled with for a long time and have always used a knife as it was easier than using a peeler in the past. The Y Peeler has a Sharp stainless steel blade for easy peeling. The handle is comfortable to hold, even during lots of peeling. It is dishwasher safe too.

The Apple Divider is priced at £7.00. It slices and cores both apples and pears with ease. The handles are raised so that your hands don't come into contact with the chopping board once you have cut all the way into the fruit. I found this quicker than using a knife to core and cut the apple. 

I am looking forward to many more crumbles throughout the colder weather and with my new gadgets I'm sure I will be making plenty.

*I was sent the Y Peeler & Apple Divider for the purpose of creating this recipe - all thoughts and opinions expressed in this piece are my own*