My perfect apple crumble

Serves 6–8

I like to use a mixture of Bramleys and eating apples—i use Coxes here—for greater depth of perfumed flavour and contrasting textures, but, of course, you can use all Bramley if you prefer. Don’t be tempted to cut the fruit too small; you don’t want it to collapse into fluff.

Ingredients

For the crumble 220g plain flour ¼tspn of salt ½tspn ground cinnamon or ginger (optional)

150g unsalted butter, very cold, cut into small cubes

80g granulated sugar 40g demerara sugar

1tspn finely grated orange zest

3tbspn fresh orange juice

40g flaked almonds or jumbo oats (optional)

For the fruit 500g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped

500g eating apples, such as Coxes, peeled cored and roughly chopped

80g–100g caster or granulated sugar, depending on the sweetness of the fruit

3tspn freshly squeezed orange juice 1tbspn finely grated orange zest A splash of water

Custard, double cream, crème fraîche or ice cream to serve

Method

Preheat your oven to 180˚C/350˚f/gas mark 4.

First, make the crumble. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon or ginger, if you’re using them. With your fingers, rub in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the sugars and orange zest with a fork, then trickle on the orange

juice and rake through with the fork to form some soft clumps in among the crumble. Put the crumble in the fridge to chill as you prepare the fruit.

Place the fruit in a pan with the sugar, orange juice, zest and a splash of water—just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Tip the fruit into a 2-litre (3½ pint) ovenproof dish and cool slightly.

Scatter the crumble over. You may not need it all, depending on the diameter of your dish—a 1.5cm (half an inch) deep covering will do. (Any leftovers can be frozen for up to two months. Simply sprinkle it over any prepared fruit and bake from frozen, allowing a little extra time for it to become golden.)

Sprinkle on the almonds or oats, if you’re using them. Place on a baking sheet (the fruit can erupt cheerfully through the topping, which you want, but then drip onto the floor of the oven, which you don’t) and bake for 45–55 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the crumble is golden and crunchy on top. Cool slightly before serving.