{Getting Cosy ~ The who, what, where, why and how of autumn/winter in the Love Audrey household. What we love to cook, eat, wear and do in the colder months, with just a hint of Christmas magic.}

My children love crumble far too much for it to be confined solely to the chillier months of the year, but I personally feel more of an urge to produce this comforting, nostalgic dessert once Halloween has been and gone and bonfire night is a distant, yet explosive, memory.

Crumble is one of those dishes I make from memory, it’s composition somehow lodged deep in my subconscious. I weigh the ingredients without thinking and rarely pay much attention to how long it’s in the oven. I suspect no two crumbles are the same, I wing it, adding different types of sugar for texture and varying the spices for flavour. As such, the finished product is instinctive, and all the better for it I would argue. Moreover, the ease with which I find the ingredients, slice the fruit, and rub the butter into the flour is what makes this bake so therapeutic. That ,and the boundless smiles it produces in my children.

In line with this, I wholeheartedly encourage you to use the recipe below as merely a starting point for your own kitchen adventure. Add oats if you like. Switch the cinnamon for ginger. Vanilla sugar could be good. And of course, in terms of fruit, the choices are practically limitless. I’m a purist, it’s apple for me almost every time. Which is why I’m hoping Santa will bring me one of these for Christmas.

You will need:
300g plain flour
a pinch of salt
175g sugar {I like to blend 100g demerera with 75g light muscovado. It makes for a beautifully golden crumble}
200g unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature

Approx 450g apples, peeled, cored and chopped.
I like to precook mine, just a little, especially if I’m using cooking apples {which also require a touch of sugar in the pan as you do so}. Sprinkle with about a tablespoon of water and let them bubble on a low heat for around 5 minutes before transferring to an oven proof dish. You can add some cinnamon while they warm too, and even a little flour if you prefer a bit of thickness to your fruit filling.

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.

2. Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Taking a few cubes of butter at a time, rub into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. {I often find I have 2 extra pairs of tiny hands that want to help with this bit!} Technically you can attempt this in a food processor, but I find it gives you a texture that is too sandy. You want a glorious rubble, not dust, and fingers do the job far better in my opinion.

3. Stir in the sugars using a fork so as not to disturb the mixture too much and add around a teaspoon of cinnamon {but only if you’ve left your apple plain} and a pinch of salt.

4. Spread the crumble topping over the fruit and press down gently. Place in the oven and bake until golden and bubbling {I normally slip mine in as we sit down for the main course and find it’s ready by the time the children have cleared their plates}. Serve with cream. Or custard. Or both.

Are you a lover of crumble? What filling gets you going? What’s your favourite winter pud?

Love Audrey xxx