Apple & Plum Crumble with Custard
- Nigel Barden
- 13 minutes ago
- 2 min read
by Margot Henderson from ‘You’re all invited: Margot’s Recipes for Entertaining (Penguin / Fig Tree)
Photography: Joe Woodhouse
As a kid I always loved making a crumble, getting my hands in there and rubbing that sweet buttery mix together until it was the right consistency. You can express yourself with a crumble by adding oats and nuts. The mixture needs to be buttery and crumbly.
Serves 6
Ingredients
100g walnuts or almonds
300g plain flour
150g small porridge oats
200g unsalted butter, slightly softened
50g dark brown sugar
100g caster sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 eating apples (e.g. Cox’s)
6 ripe plums
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/400F/gas 6.
Put the walnuts or almonds into a small roasting tray and toast in the oven for 5 minutes. Leave to cool, then chop roughly. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/fan 160C/350F/gas 4.
Put the flour and oats into a large bowl and add the butter, cut into small pieces. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour and oats. Once the mixture is crumbly, you can stir in the brown sugar, half the caster sugar, the cinnamon and the chopped nuts.
Peel the apples and cut into 2.5cm chunks. Slice the plums in half and take the stones out, then cut them into quarters. Put the fruit into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle over the remaining caster sugar and 5 tablespoons of cold water.
Cover with the crumble mix but don’t press it down too tightly. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes – to check whether the fruit is cooked, spear it with a small knife, and if it doesn’t slide in easily, cook it for a bit longer (but turn down the oven a bit so that the top doesn’t burn). The crumble should be crisp and golden brown.
Serve with custard, cream or vanilla ice cream.
Custard
Serves 6
Ingredients
250ml whole milk
250ml double cream
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
4 large egg yolks
40g caster sugar
Method
Put the milk and cream into a pan with the split vanilla pod. Bring almost to the boil, then take off the heat and set aside.
Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the sugar. Beat together with an electric whisk for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is thick and pale and forms a ribbon pattern when you lift the whisk. Slowly, slowly whisk the hot milk and cream into the egg mixture, beating all the time. Return it to the pan over a very low heat, or even better use a double boiler, and stir gently and continuously with a wooden spoon for a few minutes, until the custard had thickened.
Remove the vanilla pod before serving.
Drinks tasted on air, alongside the dish:
Comments