Tell me about your crumble recipes

[Strathyre]

My and my DH disagree about almost every aspect of making an apple crumble. So I'm interested to see how other families make them (and not just out to win an argument, honest!). So, how do you make them?

Sugar - dark brown, Caster, or something in between or a mix?

Oats, and if so in what proportion?

Do you do the breadcrumbs method or use soft butter and mix in to the flour and sugar?

Deep (in basically like a casserole dish) or wide and spread out?

Neither of us do nuts and seeds but I have had them in restaurants ... anyone?

Find a recipie with an amount of butter (proper, hard, block butter from the fridge) you think is too much. Rub into flour. Add brown sugar. Add oats. Scrunch slightly so you have lumps rather than sand.

White sugar in with the apples.

Apples and granulated sugar (so basic white 'tea' sugar). About 4 Bramleys. (We have a bramley apple tree so this is an autumn regular for us). So about 2 heaped tablespoons of sugar sprinkled over the fruit.

300g plain flour
150g max granulated sugar. Often less, so maybe 100-110g if you don't want it too sweet
150g butter

Rub flour mix. Cover fruit. Gently push down crumble and gently rub fork over topping to loosen. Bake 180 degrees for 40 ish mins.

No oats or coconut for heavens sake. *
*
Apple and rhubarb also lovely.

Or Apple and plum where I add a teaspoon of cinnamon with the sugar.

Be ro book OR TJE NIGELLA STRAWBERRY crumble.

Oops. Caps fail. Nigella strawberry crumble is lovely and - I don't always add the almonds.

Cold butter and Demerara sugar. I have tried it with oats but DH doesn’t like it, I use flaked almonds when I remember. Deep dish, cook the apples first with cinnamon. DH likes raisins it in. Serve with hot, thick, custard.

I make a crumble every other day (my 13yr old has an ed and l would eat crumble all day. She prefers it soggy underneath and clumpy rather than very fine crunchy crumble. Also we are vegan so use alternative butter. But always softbrown sugar for a softer crumble and the spread hard and cold straight from the fridge. We always double the crumble recipe (it is the best part) and use one third oats to plain flour. If you prefer a finer crunchy topping then white sugar with soft butter.

Simple is best!

Half butter to flour, then half again sugar

(So if 100g flour, 50g butter and 25g sugar)

Cold butter, chop into flour and the with cold hands and fingertips only, rub in until breadcrumbs (keep shaking to get bug clumps that still need rubbed to the top)

Mix in sugar ( grated lemon zest added in can be nice)

Put over chopped fruit, sprinkle a little bit more sugar on top and bake for about 40 mins at 180

I think half fat to flour isn’t enough fat, so I put more in. I add the same amount of sugar and some oats. Extra fat makes it more crunchy.

I also like the topping to be soggy where it meets the fruit

I like adding cinnamon but other than that it's your big standard flour, sugar and butter crumble. No oats. Apples with some lemon and cinnamon

I love it with vanilla ice cream

Not bragging but honestly my whole family absolutely rave about my apple crumble and everyone always seems to love it! It's so so easy and I've been doing it the same for as long as I can remember. So first I just throw flower butter and loads and loads of just normal sugar in a bowl and rub it between my fingers until its perfect crumbly bits then I put that aside. Then I use apples but not cooking apples as u find them harsh, just pink lady apples or any sweet apples you can find and I chop them quite small and add some cinnamon powder all over them and sometimes I use that mixed spice mix from aldi it's awesome! Mix it all over the pieces of apple and then spread the apple mixture onto a deeper oven dish first and then put the crumble on top, Place in pre heated oven until to top goes golden. And walah! Don't knock it until you've tried it. It's so so nice and no need for loads of fancy nuts and stuff. Xxxx

Very simple:

A LOT of apples. I'd use six apples for four people - and hope to get a bit left over the next day. Sharp ones - cookers if you like the fluffy texture but personally I think Granny Smith work best. I chop and core them - leave skins on - then I part-cook them in a smallish pan on top of the stove while I am making the crumble topping. If using any old apples add a couple of tablespoonfuls of lemon juice.

Crumble mix - I was taught decades ago that this is the same as shortbread: two parts flour to one part each sugar and butter. (It's got to be butter, cold from the fridge.)
Put flour and sugar - coarse grained, so granulated is ideal but other grainy sugars work well - in a bowl.
Grate the butter into the same bowl. Mix well but LIGHTLY. Use fingertips to rub together LIGHTLY until the texture is like sand. Don't overdo this. (Not for nothing do the Fench call shortbread 'sand biscuits'.)
Tip part-cooked and now softened apples into a shallow dish. I use a Pyrex oval, but any shape will do.
Scatter crumble mix gently on top - about 2/3 depth of apple to 1/3 crumble. Don't press it down too hard - lightness and crispness is the thing to aim for.

Bake 30 mins approx (will depend on oven) at around 180C until pale golden and crisp on top and the apple is bubbling underneath.

As others have said, cold thin cream goes very well with it.

Chuck flour and cubed butter in the food processor and blitz (just over half fat to flour) then add the sugar and mix in (whatever I've got, sometimes brown sometimes white).

Chop some cooking apples, toss in a bit of sugar. Add other fruit (usually raspberries) and put in a casserole dish. Put a good layer of crumble on top, without pressing it down. Bake.

Strawberry and rhubarb crumble.
Banana and chocolate.
Watermelon cooks well but could do with apples or something.

Decent butter, light brown sugar and flour. Rub in the butter by hand, or food processor if short of time but needs watching carefully so it doesn’t over-process. Cook on a baking sheet separately to the filling.