After our afternoon at the apple orchard in Wotton-under-Edge we came home with the most marvellous haul of apples.  Since we’d already feasted upon apple pie at the orchard, I decided to turn some of the apples into a wonderfully buttery crumble.

Crumbles were a favourite family pudding when I was growing up.  Our Sunday roast of a succulent chicken, roasties and (alas) sprouts was frequently followed by a tart, fluffy apple crumble doused in evaporated milk or Bird’s custard.  My tastes have moved on a bit since then, but I still have a bit of a weakness for evaporated milk.

I like to keep all the fruit in my crumbles, rather than bubbling over the edge and disappearing to the floor of the oven.  So, to ensure a juicy crumble and a clean no dirtier than usual oven, I peeled a few apples turned them into a compote.  A brainwave struck me whilst chopping the apples and instead of sweetening with sugar, I used the deliciously sweet-smokey syrup left over from the honey and marsala baked pears I’d made a couple of days before.  There was still a leftover baked pear, so I decided to peel and slice it over the compote before adding the crumble.  I also re-used the cinnamon and vanilla that were still lurking in the syrup for additional oomph.  Apples and pears are always happy bedfellows and I’m trying very hard to waste less food, so I was quite pleased with myself.

For the crumble topping, I turned to How to Eat and the wisdom of Nigella.  Her recipe was deliciously buttery which boded well for a crunchy golden topping to the crumble.  I did intend to add some sliced almonds, but I forgot all about them until the crumble was well on its way to perfection.  I wasn’t too sad as it smelt divine, and anyway, almonds are always welcome in my pantry.

So, did I do the apples justice?  I think I did!  The apples were soft and pillowy but so, so fresh and vibrant despite being cooked twice.  Apples eaten just hours after being picked are a world away from apples that have sat in cold stores for months.  The honey and marsala syrup didn’t dominate at all… just gently supported the apples and added an extra dimension to the compote.  The occasional chunk of tender, almost grainy honeyed pear came as a very welcome treat.

Nigella’s crumble topping was a triumph.  Such a fabulously buttery and crunchy topping, almost like shortbread.  I think that the almonds would have been a step too far with the additional tweaks I’d already made, so my forgetfulness was actually a good thing for once.

I served the crumble with lashings of double cream and between Dave and I—I’m ashamed to say—we ate the whole lot!  I did fleetingly think that Lucas would really enjoy it, but that last portion just looked too good.  Still, I can’t feel too guilty about my gluttony… Lucas can look forward to numerous crumbles in his lifetime and let’s face it, crumble is best served hot!

Apple Crumble

• 1kg apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
• approx 75ml of reserved syrup from Honey Baked Pears OR 75ml honey OR 75ml maple syrup OR 85g sugar
• cinnamon stick
• vanilla pod, split
• 120g plain flour
• 90g chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 3 tablespoons light muscavado sugar
• 3 tablespoons caster or vanilla sugar

Place the prepared apples, the spices and about half your chosen sweetener in a medium saucepan.  Cover and heat over a medium flame for about five minutes until the apples have begun to collapse.  (If you’re using sugar, then add two tablespoons of water to help the fruit along.)  Check for sweetness and adjust accordingly.  (If you think it’s too sweet, then cut back on the sugar in the crumble topping to balance things out.)  Pour apple compote into an appropriately sized dish and leave to cool a little while you get on with the crumble.  You can fish out the spices now, or leave them to continue infusing the fruit with flavour.

Preheat the oven to 190C (Gas Mark 5).

Put the flour and butter in a medium bowl along with a pinch of salt.  Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until you get a rubble-like consistency.  It doens’t matter terribly if you have a few small bits of butter still visible, but you don’t want a fine crumb texture.  Stir in the sugars and leave the bowl in the fridge until needed.

When ready to finish the crumble, sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit and bake for 25-35 minutes until the top is lightly golden.  Leave to cool for a few minutes before serving with whatever you fancy.  Double cream, creme fraiche, clotted cream and vanilla ice cream are all fantastic.  As is custard, whether it’s good old Bird’s or proper custard.  I even have a friend who insists on eating crumble with both a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and a moat of custard!