Almond and Pecan Apple Crumble

This all time favourite dessert needs to be served with a large dose of nostalgia on the side. I mean who doesn’t love an apple crumble? It is one of those classic recipes that we all grew up on and a recipe that we all try to re-create to the same standards as our childhood memories. Even the apple crumble’s served at school dinners were actually OK… and that is really saying something. Is it because this is a dessert that is hard to get wrong, or simply that we all have a fondness for this rather stodgy and basic pudding?

I love this time of the year. The supermarkets piled high with apples, the smell of cinnamon in all the baked goods coming from the cafes when you walk the street and the autumnal produce such as pumpkins and squash neartly lined up at local markets waiting to be blitzed into big batches of soup. We are also getting close to Thanksgiving which is always a time of the year when I get greatly inspired. While I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving I do follow a lot of American food blogs and I am always in awe of how well they recreate this family focused event around all the autumn produce. From pumpkin pies, roast turkey with all the trimmings to sweet potato bakes or a pecan pie, I can’t help but get inspired ready for Christmas.

I try not to roll the breadcrumbs too thin to keep some kind of crunchy texture to the crumble but I always find that quite difficult. After a while flour is going to smoothly mix with the butter to create a fine crumble and so I like to add some flaked almonds and chopped pecans to it. It gives a lovely nutty taste and of course adds much more of a crunch! I bake the apples first for around 15 mins until just soft and then add the crumble on top before turning up the heat a little. I also squeeze some maple syrup over the dish towards the end and pop the crumble back in the oven for the final few minutes. It makes the topping a little more crisp which works perfectly with the soft and tender apples. A large jug of custard on the side is required!

Almond and Pecan Apple Crumble

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 6 apples (peeled, core removed and diced into thick chunks)
• 180g plain white flour
• 125g plain unsalted butter (cut into cubes and at room temperature)
• 50g caster sugar
• Juice of half a lemon
• 70g soft brown sugar
• 70g flaked almonds
• 100g pecans (crushed/ roughly chopped)
• Golden syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5.
2. Add the apples to a baking dish with 1 tbps caster sugar and the lemon juice. Mix well so the sugar and lemon juice covers the apples and put in the oven for 10 mins.
3. In a large mixing bowl add the flour, caster sugar and butter. Using your fingers mix everything together until the mixture forms into breadcrumbs. Stir through the brown sugar so that it is well combined with the rest of the ingredients. Then add the almonds and pecans and mix well.
4. Take the apples out of the oven and tip the crumble mixture over the top. Place in the oven for around 20 mins.
5. Take the crumble out of the oven and drizzle some golden syrup over the top of it. Place back in the oven for another 5 mins.
6. Leave to rest for just 5 mins before serving.

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