Apple crumble

**Feeds 4**

**Preparation time:** 15 minutes
**Cooking time:** 40 minutes

Ingredients
50g butter
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
400g apples, peeled cored and sliced

For the crumble topping
80g butter
175g plain flour
110g sugar
30g rolled oats
30g ground almonds
50g chopped pecans

Method
Heat oven to 180C.

Heat 50g of butter in a frying pan over medium heat until the butter has melted. Scatter in the sugar and cinnamon and add the apples and mix through the butter. Cook until the sauce is sticky (the consistency of golden syrup) - around 5 minutes.  Put the apples into a baking dish and leave to cool while you do the next step.

While the apples cool, make the topping. Rub together the flour and butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir through the rest of the crumble ingredients.

Put the crumble mix on top of the apples and cook for 25-30 minutes until golden.

Variation

Mulled apple and blackberry: Add 4 tbsps of red wine, 1 star anise, 2 cloves, 1 tbsp orange or cointreau to a pan along with the butter, sugar and cinnamon and bring to the boil. Add the apples and continue as above. Just before you put the apple mix into a baking dish, remove the star anise and cloves. Add 170g of fresh or frozen blackberries to the apples when you put them into your oven dish just before you scatter over the crumble (these do not need heating with the apples).

Apple and raspberry: Just replace the cinnamon with vanilla paste or extract and add 170g of fresh or frozen raspberries to the apples when you put them into your oven dish just before you scatter over the crumble (these do not need heating with the apples).