Making apple crumble

I’ve tried the crumble mix and I really didn’t rate it. I use my food processor to make the crumble. It’s a great investment for tired hands.

Hurrah to hear that the melted butter method works!
I always cook the apples first, at least partially. Is that usual?
We have several community orchards where the fruit is lying under the trees and nobody appears to bother gathering it to eat raw or to cook. Apple crumble needs free fruit now butter costs £5 per block.

Grandmotherto8

I do it the Raymond Blanc way. Butter, flour & sugar, then bake the crumble mixture on a baking tray for about 15 mins before putting it on top of the fruit. Wonderful crispy topping with none of that soggy layer you can get when you cook the raw crumble on top of the fruit.

I like the soggy layer!

So many great crumble recipes here, thanks all for sharing

I use quite soft butter and just cut it through the flour with a table knife and fork. I hate rubbing-in and although I do have one of the hand-held gadgets I hate washing it, a knife and fork works well enough. I do like oats in my crumble topping!

I always have a bag of Delia's crumble in the freezer and confess to using a tin of apples slices- mixed with a bit of soft brown sugar and juice of half a lemon. Really tempted to have a go at melting the butter method though.

Get the butter really cold and pulse it into the flour with a liquidiser.

Allegretto

I melt the butter and then stir in sugar, flour, oats (& sometimes ground almonds). Works a treat.

Yes, I put ground almonds in too, a hangover from when we needed to use many ways of subterfuge to get protein into a small grandson.

Ground hazelnuts are great with apple crumble too.

Oh yes Witzend, it’s the one case where a soggy bottom is essential.

watermeadow

Hurrah to hear that the melted butter method works!
I always cook the apples first, at least partially. Is that usual?
We have several community orchards where the fruit is lying under the trees and nobody appears to bother gathering it to eat raw or to cook. Apple crumble needs free fruit now butter costs £5 per block.

We have a house not far from us which has six beautiful apple trees outside - every year they are laden with apples and every year, without fail, those apples fall off and are left to rot. I can't understand it. The owners have had the house since it was built and clearly planted those trees, yet the fruit just goes to waste. It drives me mad.

Our granddaughter made such perfect crumble - under my tuition!-when she was a toddler, that I just left it to her when we were staying with her and her mum till she could start nursery. Sadly we are back home hundreds of miles away at the top end of the UK while they remain in Devon. She is now a fantastic baker now though...

I mash the butter in with a fork -if managing the fork is any easier?

Whizz it in a food processor….. I do my pastry that way …. Perfect and no effort

Grandmotherto8 I like your idea of baking the crumble topping for 15 minutes. I've been given some baking apples so will give your method a try tomorrow.

5oz flour, 1oz oats, 3ozbutter rubbed in until breadcrumbs then 2/3 oz brown sugar. I pop it in the freezer in a big plastic bag and use as required mostly with a packet of my frozen stewed apples and ice cream.

watermeadow

Hurrah to hear that the melted butter method works!
I always cook the apples first, at least partially. Is that usual?
We have several community orchards where the fruit is lying under the trees and nobody appears to bother gathering it to eat raw or to cook. Apple crumble needs free fruit now butter costs £5 per block.

£5 a block of butter!! Where do you live? I’ve never paid that much for butter.

I was thinking the same, J52. M&S and Ocado butter is £2 / 250g, or 2 for £3.60.
As someone uptrend said, Stork is fine for crumbles. My Mum always used a fork for mixing the butter in, too.

Upthread!

Crumble mixes from supermarkets all seem to use palm oil and rapeseed oil. Can’t see how they can taste as good as butter.