Easy Apple Crumble Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to good crumble? ›

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.

Often this happens if the crumb topping is over-mixed or if the butter was much too hot. Over-mixing will leave you with a pasty, batter-like mixture rather than the crumbly topping you are aiming for. Using very hot butter can cause the sugars to melt, leaving you with a greasy and not crumbly mixture.

Butter, which encourages both browning and crispness, is the magic ingredient in getting your topping just right, so follow the recipe instructions. But if you feel your topping is still too dry and crumbly, (even for a crumble) add a bit more melted butter, a tablespoon at a time.

To do this properly, you first need to make sure that the topping is still a little lumpy. A crumble topping is made by rubbing butter into dry ingredients (flour, sugar and sometimes ground almonds, too). Once this is done, wet your hands, and mix the topping even more, allowing it to form into larger clumps.

This has led some historians to believe that Betty was the name of the cook and creator of the recipe and that brown was in reference to her skin color.

A brown betty is similar to a crisp or crumble, except the topping is layered into the fruit mixture before baking for an intensely crunchy effect. Food Network Kitchen's Grilled Rhubarb Brown Betty is warm, sweet and super-crisp — excellent when served with a scoop of strawberry ice cream.

Bake the crumble.

Cover the pan with foil, and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 25 to 30 minutes, until the crumble is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Leave to stand for 5-10 minutes, then serve warm with custard or ice cream.

If you are baking the crumble on it's own, spread out the crumb topping onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the edges start to brown and crisp up. It will crisp more as it cools. Let it cool about 15-20 minutes before using a spatula to break up and serve immediately or store in a jar.

Yes, peeling the apples needs to be done before making an apple crisp. Unlike the flesh of the apple, baking the skin won't make it tender and delicious. Sure, it'll be less crisp, but more like soggy fish skin than crisp inviting apple skin. A crisp bake with the skin on the apples would be gross.

What happens if you put too much butter in crumble? ›

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.

What Makes A Good Apple For Apple Crisp? The best apples for baking keep their structure under heat, which prevents the chunks of fruit from turning into mush after baking. The firm and crisp Granny Smith and Honeycrisp varieties are popular apples to use in apple pies and apple crisps.

The most common cause of hard crumble is using the wrong amount of butter. So, be sure to measure carefully! If you don't use enough, your crumble will be too hard. However, to fix it, just add melted butter one spoonful at a time over the mixture until it is a little moister and crumbles with ease.

A well-made crumb should be firm yet tender, and chewy, with big chunks—like granola. The best way to achieve this is to use cold cubed butter. Using room-temperature or melted butter will cause the topping to spread out and flatten when it bakes, rather than standing pert and perky.

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.

It is often mixed with a small amount of cold liquid to create a slurry to thicken sauces. When added to cake, cookie, pie filling and shortbread recipes, cornstarch helps create a crumbly and tender dessert-like texture. Commercially, cornstarch is often used as an anti-caking agent.