Apple crumble beats the tummy rumble!

I’m not a big dessert person but, with my oldest son going into pre-teen appetite overdrive, it is time to call for reinforcements. Enter: Grandma’s apple crumble!

When my youngest was 1 1/2 and my oldest was 3 1/2, I started two wonderful years as primary carer.

One of the first things I did was sit down with my Mum and go through all the meals that I remembered and loved from my early childhood, and collect them. It’s amazing how many meals from the sixties include a can of soup as a key ingredient! Not this one though.

Apple crumble is healthy, quick to cook, and cheap: a great way to fill up a growing child, and a super breakfast too for the following morning.

Recipe: my Mum’s apple crumble

Ingredients

Filling

• 6 to 8 Granny Smith apples, depending on size
• .25 cup water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 lemon wedges
• 2 cloves

Crumble

• .5 cup wholemeal flour
• .5 cup rolled oats
• .25 cup brown sugar
• 80 grams butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method

Preheat oven to 180˚

Filling

You can either slice the apples and cover with crumble and do the whole lot in the oven, or steam the apples separately, then cover with the crumble and just finish off in the oven to brown the topping. I prefer to steam the apples separately.

So …

Peel, core, and slice the apples. Place in saucepan with water, sugar, lemon wedges and cloves. Cover and bring to boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for 2–4 minutes.
Pour off excess water. Remove cloves and lemon. Cover apple filling and set aside.

Crumble

Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. For the butter, I generally place it in a small dish on top of the lid of the apple saucepan so that it melts, but room-temperature butter is easily worked through the dry ingredients.

Once you have thoroughly worked through the butter and created a consistent mixture, you are ready for the next step.

Combining

Place the apple in a shallow baking dish, cover evenly with the crumble mixture, and place in oven for 10–20 minutes, or until the crumble is golden brown.

Serve with ice cream or custard.