Apple and Blueberry Crumble
Apple and blueberry crumble with gentle hints of baking spices is a great dessert all year round. This easy crumble recipe can be made with fresh or frozen blueberries and it’s oven-ready in 20 minutes.
Servings: 6
Calories: 492kcal
Ingredients
For the Fruit Layer
- 800 g Apples mix of cooking and eating apples (see notes)
- 300 g Blueberries fresh or frozen
- 1½ tablespoons Cornflour (cornstarch)
- 60 g White sugar caster or granulated
- ½ teaspoon Ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
For the Crumble Topping
- 125 g Butter
- 150 g Plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 60 g White sugar caster or granulated
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 60 g Oats
- 45 g Demerara sugar
Instructions
Make the crumble topping
- Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ GM 4
- Put the flour, caster sugar and salt into a mixing bowl and stir briefly.
- Cube the butter, add to the bowl and rub it into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Mix in the oats and demerara sugar.
Prepare the fruit
- Mix the cornflour, sugar and spices together in a small bowl.
- Peel and core the apples then chop roughly.
- Place the apple chunks in a large mixing bowl and mix them up (this is very important if using a variety of apples).
- Add the blueberries and the sugar mixture and stir well.
Assemble and bake
- Lightly grease a large baking dish with butter.
- Tip the fruit into the dish, scattering any leftover sugar & cornflour mixture over the top.
- Spoon the crumble topping over the fruit, ensuring it is all covered.
- Place on a baking sheet (to catch any drips if the fruit bubbles over the edge) and bake in a preheated oven for 40 minutes until the top is golden.
- Let stand for 15 minutes then serve.
Notes
- Measure ingredients accurately – using digital scales along with gram measurements is much more precise than using cup measurements.
- Use a large, deep-sided oven-proof bowl to cook the crumble in.
- Ensure all apple skins, cores and pips are removed – if left on when the apples are chopped they will be unpleasant to chew.
- Don’t forget the cornflour – this is needed to turn the liquid from the fruit into a scrumptious sauce around the fruit. If left out there will be a thin, unappetising liquid in the base of the dish.
- The spices are optional. You can make a straight blueberry and apple crumble without them if desired.
- Make vegan blueberry crumble by replacing the butter with vegan block butter and adding in an extra ¼ teaspoon of salt to the crumble topping.
- Or make gluten-free apple and blueberry crumble by using gluten-free plain flour. There is no need to replace the cornflour as this is naturally gluten-free. However, take care with the oats since although they are technically gluten-free, oats are often processed in factories also handling gluten-based products, so cross-contamination can occur. If in doubt, leave the oats out of the recipe.
- Cooking apples break down into a sauce when cooked. They are also relatively tart so require plenty of sugar to sweeten them.
- Eating apples, on the other hand, hold their shape when cooked and are typically sweet enough to eat without the addition of too much extra sugar.
- Opt for Granny Smiths if you like your crumble with plenty of sharp tanginess to it.
- Pink Lady apples are a good bet if you’re not so into sharp fruit.
- Avoid Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious apples as these often turn a little mushy and watery when cooked.
Nutrition
Calories: 492kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 45mg | Sodium: 234mg | Potassium: 255mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 620IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 2mg