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KEY POINTS

INGREDIENTS
The ingredients below will make a medium sized apple crumble, enough for four people.

The picture above shows Flora margarine which is fine for spreading. But from experience after taking the picture I've discovered that butter or a cooking margarine, such as Stork, gives a much more 'crumbly' crumble.

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup rolled oats or Corn Flakes (most breakfast cereals will do)

COOKING EQUIPMENT
1 Medium-sized oven-proof dish
Scales
Fork

Notes for the Cook!
When apples are peeled and especially when sliced, their attractive white flesh will very quickly turn a 'not-so-attractive' brownish color. This makes absolutely no difference to the taste, but 'looks' are important. The method described below therefore leaves the peeling and cutting of the apples to the last minute. 

There is one 'trick' described at the end to make the crumble surface look really brown and nice, but please do keep an eye on the timing. A brown crumbly topping looks absolutely delicious, but a black and burnt top is not so good.

Method
Turn your oven on now so that it's pre-heated ready to cook later on! Heat settings are 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 5.
  

Now, make the 'crumble' mixture. I've tried this with my hands, an electric blender and a fork. I think a fork is best but the experts prefer hands! Mix the butter / margarine with the flour in a dry bowl using a fork until you have a texture like breadcrumbs. It's not important that every single bit is like breadcrumbs, but try and get most of it like that. This will take about three minutes. If you are adding the optional ingredients of oatmeal or Corn Flakes, do it now. Mix it all in well.

Add 4 (not all the 6) ounces of sugar to the mixture and mix it all together with the fork. This will tend to make the mixture even more like breadcrumbs. That's your crumble mixture made and ready.
 

Peel the apples and cut each one into four parts. Cut out the core from each of the sections (see picture on the left).  Slice the apple quarters - no need to slice them too thinly, about six slices per quarter section of apple will do just fine.

 

Put the apple slices into the casserole dish. If you are adding the optional cinnamon, do it now. Make sure it is sprinkled evenly throughout the apples. Sprinkle the remaining 2 ounces of sugar evenly over the apples. Now, evenly spread the 'crumble' mixture over the sugared apples (see picture on the right). Put this into the middle of your pre-heated oven at 180C / 350F / Gas Mark 5 for 40 minutes.

One trick you can use now is to put the apple crumble under a hot grill for about 30 to 45 seconds to 'brown' the crumble topping. Keep a good eye on it though because 30 seconds too much can result in a very black crumble topping! 

When the crumble is cooked, leave it to cool for at least 15 minutes. Beware, apple crumble can stay really hot for an hour or so. Serve hot or cold with ice cream, cream or custard.

If there is any apple crumble left over, cover the dish with tin foil and it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.  

  LINK TO WASSAILING VIDEO

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