A Fairly Tart Crumble

I also made a crumble while Bear was visiting. He likes things to be fairly tart so I used a mix of gooseberries from the garden and granny smith apples for the filling. I always vary my recipe for crumble with differing results but this one was especially nice so I record it for posterity:

Oven to 170°c.

Mix in a suitable deep dish for 4-5 people:

• 500g gooseberry + chopped apples
• 40g caster sugar
• 1 spoon of cornflour

Rub together into breadcrumbs:

• 175g plain flour
• 85g salted butter, chilled (I used Vitalite as Bear is vegan; any spread suited to baking will work, but not a low fat spread)

Stir into the flour mix:

• 75g soft dark sugar (break up so not too clumped)
• A handful of slivered almonds

Pour topping onto the filling, making an even layer but without pressing down. Bake for 45 minutes. You can grill the topping further if you want it to be toasty golden but I didn't bother.

It was the hottest day of the year so we ate it at room temperature with soy-based vanilla ice cream. Very delicious.

I found the Vitalite easier to rub in than dairy butter, so might use this in future instead. You also get much better texture in cakes with margarine than butter so maybe I should stop being a snob about it (although butter has a much better flavour in a yellow cake I guess).

We all agreed the topping worked because it's not homogenous. The sugar sits as crystals among the slivered almonds within the topping, giving a lot of crunch and texture, almost like a granola. This is the polar opposite of my sister-in-law's method where the topping is made on the stove and everything cooked together.  This is exactly the end of that spectrum I was aiming for.

Update October 2022:

We didn't have any butter - not even for ready money - and so I adapted the crumble recipe for basic vegetable oil. It tasted great and was much quicker to make, so this is my recommended method now. Stir together:

• 100 grams flour
• 75 grams oats
• 75 grams dark brown sugar
• A handful of slivered almonds
• 1tsp cinnamon
• ⅓ cup sunflower or other oil

Then use as above.

Given oil has no water content it seems to toast very quickly, so cooking at 160°C for 45 minutes might work well. You can cover in foil halfway to stop it browning further too.