Individual Apple Crumble Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to crunchy crumble? ›

However, we also love adding porridge oats for extra chewiness, as in these recipes for very-berry oat crumble and American-style apple crisp. Chopped and toasted nuts such as pecans, almonds or hazelnuts also make a lovely addition to a traditional crumble, for taste as well as an extra-crunchy texture.

Use the Right Amount of Butter

Too much butter and your topping will become a greasy blob or disappointingly soggy. Some recipes will ask you to cut in cold butter along with your dry ingredients, resulting in pea-size pieces that are sprinkled across the hot fruit filling.

The main reason your crumble topping isn't crunchy is probably because you haven't used Demerara sugar. Although, it could also be that you've got your topping ingredient quantities wrong: either too much or not enough flour and butter alongside the sugar.

First, adding a teaspoon of baking powder to the flour mixture makes the crumble topping more tender. Second, using cold butter and working it into the flour mixture makes for a pastry-like topping reminiscent of pie crust. Pro tip: Crumble topping freezes incredibly well and can be kept on hand for crumble anytime.

Use cold, cubed butter.

Making the crumble with room temperature or melted butter will cause the topping to spread as it bakes, rather than creating a landscape of craggy, crunchy sweet pieces. Using cold butter will help all the crumble ingredients bind together before baking and then saturate them evenly in the oven.

If you use more butter than the recipe calls for, the crumb topping will be melted and greasy. If you don't use enough butter it will be dry and floury.

Then, make sure to bake the crumble long enough so that the fruit filling comes to a profuse simmer at the edges of the pan. This shows that the cornstarch has been activated enough to thicken the juices, turning them supple and silky.

Use Overripe Fruit

Even if you choose the perfect apple variety, if the fruit is overripe, your apple pie filling will turn to mush. The perfect apple pie filling is not too sweet. It has just the right amount of tartness to offset the added richness of brown sugar and cinnamon.

If using ramekins, fill the cups about 3/4 full with apples and then top with crumbles; the apples will shrink slightly when baked. Bake the apple crumble for about 30-40 minutes or until the topping is perfectly golden brown. Check at the 30 minute mark if using ramekins.

Why is my crumble topping like dough? ›

Why does my crumble topping look like dough? This is usually down to the butter being too warm when mixed together. Also, if the ambient temperature is warm, then the butter will soften after the crumble mix is made and cause it to turn into a dough-like consistency.

Like an apple crisp, an apple crumble is a baked fruit dessert with a layer of topping. But unlike the crisp, the crumble topping rarely includes oats or nuts. Instead, a crumble's topping is more like streusel, made with flour, sugar and butter.

Crumble topping is a combination of only 3 simple ingredients: butter, flour, and sugar. It adds the perfect sweetness and crunch to any muffin, quick bread, or pie!

Aunt Bessie's quick and easy crumble mix, just as it should be. We blend flour, sugar and oats for a satisfyingly sweet, golden, crunchy topping. Ready for you to sprinkle over fruit, bake in the oven, then ask the all-important question: ice-cream or custard?

Cobbler: A fruit dessert made with a top crust of pie dough or biscuit dough but no bottom crust. Crisp/crumble: In Alberta, the terms are mostly interchangeable. Both refer to fruit desserts similar to cobbler but made with a brown sugar streusel topping sometimes containing old-fashioned rolled oats.

Classic crumble

Sometimes simplicity is best and a basic crumble topping of sugar, flour and butter is all you need for the perfect pudding. In Raymond Blanc's popular apple & blackberry crumble, the topping is pre-baked so it retains a light, crumbly texture and doesn't stick together.

Crisps are essentially crumbles with the addition of oats and optional nuts, which causes the topping to “crisp” in the oven. Due to the higher ratio of oats to flour, crisps are often enjoyed for breakfast and are just as tasty eaten cold from the fridge as they are warmed up in the oven.