Apple and Sour Cherry Crumble

Step 1

First, preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan and procure a deep-ish pie or roasting dish.

Step 2

In a large bowl, weigh your flour and butter. Rub the butter into your flour until it comes like breadcrumbs – just like making pastry or scones. Use your fingers as a washboard for your thumbs. Once combined, add your sugar and oats and stir together. Squeeze into lumps to make more crumbly. Set aside.

Step 3

The hardest part here is peeling the apples. Core and peel them one at a time, then slice them into thin strips. Lay a thin layer of apple onto the bottom of your pie dish and sprinkle some of your cherries on top. Then, just using the packet of sugar, cover your fruit in a thin layer of sugar.

Step 4

Slice enough apple to cover your first layer, add more cherries and repeat your sugar sprinkling. Keep repeating this process until you’ve used up all your fruit. Then, once you only have some cherry juice left over in your packet, pour all this over too and add some more sugar for luck.

Step 5

Finally, distribute your crumble topping on top and place in the oven for about 35-45 minutes – until the crumble is a dark golden brown on top. Trust me, it’ll be good. Serve with custard, cream, ice cream or all three.

Top Tip:

One of my fellow Great British Bake-Off Contestants professed “I cannot make a good crumble” (I won’t say who). Well the secret is to make it crumbly. Do this by adding plenty of oats to your mix and by squeezing the completed mix together to make big lumps, which crisp up in the oven.

Enjoy!