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Mary Berry’s Apple Crumble

Finished with a buttery topping, Mary Berry's ultimate apple crumble recipe from Mary Makes It Easy is a one to pull out for cold wintery evenings.

From the book

Introduction

Just a classic and the best – my ultimate favourite crumble. Although, plum and rhubarb are up there as some of the best, too!

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Ingredients

1.5kg (3lb 5oz) cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
30g (1oz) butter
175g (6oz) light muscovado sugar
For the crumble topping:
175g (6oz) plain flour
115g (4oz) butter, cut into cubes
55g (2oz) demerara sugar, plus a little extra to sprinkle

Essential kit

You will need a 25cm (10in) round shallow ovenproof pie dish.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6. You will need a 25cm (10in) round shallow ovenproof pie dish.

Place the apples in a wide-based pan, add 2 tablespoons of water and the butter and cook over a gentle heat for about 6 minutes, until tender, stirring regularly. Remove from the heat, stir in the sugar and set aside to cool.

To make the crumble topping, measure the ingredients into a large bowl and rub together, using your fingertips, until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Spoon the cold apple into the pie dish and level the surface. Sprinkle an even layer of crumble topping over the apple, then sprinkle over a little extra demerara sugar.

Cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4 and cook for a further 20 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Serve hot with cream, custard, ice cream or crème fraîche!

Mary’s Tips: Can be assembled up to 6 hours ahead. Best cooked to serve. Freezes well assembled and uncooked.

Reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars

39 Ratings

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43 Comments

    default user avatar Mercel

    Was very easy to do and it was tasty.

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    default user avatar christine oldroyd

    It’s very nice family loved it too

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    default user avatar Pauline Hood

    Yes this is the 2 nd time making this it’s yummy 😋 also added cinnamon.

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    default user avatar Luciel

    Okay it was good, but it would be better with cinnamon- would suggest for people to put a bit of cinnamon in there.

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    default user avatar Marry Anne

    I haven’t made this yet but just thinking, would it be okay to use frozen apples?

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    default user avatar The Happy Foodie Team

    Hi Marry Anne,

    Thank you for your comment. Cooking the apples straight from frozen should be fine for a crumble.

    Happy Cooking!
    The Happy Foodie Team

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    default user avatar Carol Smith

    Excellent loved it so easy have frozen two for later on cooked one from frozen in the airfryer they turned out amazing

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    default user avatar Lucinda

    Can I leave the apple peel on?

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    default user avatar The Happy Foodie Team

    Hi Lucinda,

    Yes, you can absolutely leave the peel on for added texture and flavour.

    Happy Cooking!
    The Happy Foodie Team

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    default user avatar Lara

    So Easy and Quick and Delicious

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    default user avatar Gill

    Anything Mary recommends, I will use

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    default user avatar Marija Dalziel

    Fool proof. Easy to make

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    default user avatar Lorraine Fisher

    Best recipe for an Apple Crumble I have made. Really tasty especially mixing the apples with the muscovado sugar. I baked mine in a 11” dish so made double the quantity of crumble and was just right. Personally would recommend trying this recipe

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    default user avatar Amy Coburn-Levae

    Easy to follow

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    default user avatar Christina Sweeney

    Do you cook it from frozen or defrosted first please

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    default user avatar The Happy Foodie Team

    Hi Christina,

    Thank you for your query. If you are cooking from frozen there’s no need to defrost first but you may need to extend the cooking time. We would advise checking after the recommended forty minutes and, if it’s not piping hot throughout, golden and bubbling, increasing the cooking time in 5-minute increments until it’s done.

    Happy Cooking!
    The Happy Foodie Team

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    default user avatar Jojo

    Best ever apple crumble. Even my husband who usually asks for crumble with no fruit loved it. I used demerara sugar in apple mixture as I didn’t have any muscavado and added 1tsp cinnamon and a half tsp nutmeg to the crumble mixture.

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    default user avatar Gemma

    Easy and delish all the family love it

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    default user avatar James Lindsay

    Good recipe I added raisins and mixed spice delight 😊

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    default user avatar Natalia

    I made it with almond flour and breadcrumbs. Turned out fantastic!

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    default user avatar Helen

    Very nice and super easy

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    default user avatar Anna Morley

    Real always good with lashings of custard.

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    default user avatar Pat Goodacre

    delicious, though too much butter and sugar for my taste.

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    default user avatar Helena Grandon

    Turned out perfect .delicious and tasty . Very easy and quick . ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

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    default user avatar Gerald

    Very good 8-10

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    default user avatar Geraldine Caine

    Personally I like a much bigger ratio of crumble to fruit so I made it with half the apples and it was delicious!

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    default user avatar Peter Clarke

    It is tasty and looking good. I love the recipe because it very easy to follow.

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    default user avatar Sarah Mukahanana

    It is tasty and looking good. I love the recipe because its simple and very easy to follow

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    default user avatar Anne Colemam

    so good x

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    default user avatar Dianne

    Love all Mary Berry’s recipes, so I felt very confident in trying this apple crumble recipe. It was simple, straightforward and delicious. I made a couple of changes to suit our palate. I missed out the par cooking of the apples. I simply sliced and put in my dish with the sugar and a few tablespoons of brown sugar then sprinkled a teaspoon of flour over the apples, with a teaspoon of cinnamon (to taste) simply because I love apples with cinnamon and finally the water, then sprinkled on the crumble mixture and baked. Gorgeous, gooey and very autumnal. Hubby loved it too, and I’m sure you will too.

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    default user avatar Phil

    Quick and easy recipe
    Husband very impressed
    Lovely with ice cream

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    default user avatar Phil

    This recipe was so quick and easy and even better because l had all the ingredients in my kitchen
    My husband was very impressed and absolutely loved it with ice cream

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    default user avatar Mel

    Very nice and easy to make crumble! I added cinnamon to the apple and I made the crumble with buckwheat. Turned out great.
    Ps: don’t know why anyone would use a mixer to make crumble as this will give you pastry, although I’m thinking you could probably crumble the pastry as well… But to be safe, just use your hands!

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    default user avatar Chris Hillary

    I made the ‘crumble’ twice and both times it turned into pastry. I think the butter quantity in the recipe was too much. After the second go ,I threw the lot in the bin and went to the shop and bought some. I used The mixer instead of by hand,perhaps this was the problem?

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    default user avatar The Happy Foodie Team

    Hi Chris,

    We’re so sorry to hear about your experience of this recipe. Did you use the mixer on both attempts? We would definitely advise using the fingertip method for this crumble topping.

    All the best,
    The Happy Foodie Team

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    default user avatar Chris

    Great and so easy

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    default user avatar Ann

    At last my crumble was deliciously crusty 😊

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    default user avatar Pam

    Perfect, will always use this recipe

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    default user avatar Susan Bryant

    Absolute perfection

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    default user avatar Arthur Reaveley

    A really “more more” pudding. What else from Mary?

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