Why does my crumble mix always sink?

[shoppingbagsundereyes]

Without fail the crumble falls into the fruit and becomes a soggy mess. I never put it on until just before putting into the oven. Any ideas?

I'm not sure why it is happening for you, but I can tell you that this happens with me if the fruit mixture is very watery, and/or if there is too much fruit compared to crumble.

Also it might be to do with how you make your crumble mix: what are your proportions of butter / flour / sugar? I use 2 parts flour: 2 parts sugar (demerara): 1 part butter, so today I made rhubarb crumble in a dish measuring 17cm x 27cm, and I used 8oz flour, 8oz sugar, 4oz butter, which was just about enough - the rhubarb bubbled over in the corners, but most of it stayed under the crumble topping. Hth.

I found an old heston book that said to bake the crumble topping seperatly, then add it to the base as you are serving. Makes a brill topping wit no soggy bits

I suspect it's not to do with the crumble recipe, but the temperature you are cooking it at.

Personally I think cooking the topping separately is a silly idea, as a little bit of sog where it touches the fruit is good, IMO.

Is your fruit overcooked, so that the crumble mix just gets absorbed by it?