Raspberry, apple and hazelnut crumble

I found this crumble topping recipe in an old farm house baking cookbook. The addition of Demerara sugar as well as caster gives the topping that desirable crunchiness that is so often lacking in homemade crumbles.

Ingredients

• 5 granny smith apples
• 1 small punnet of fresh raspberries or 2 handfuls frozen raspberries
• 2 ½ oz cold unsalted butter
• 2 oz caster sugar
• 2 oz Demerara sugar
• 2oz rolled oats (porridge ones are fine)
• 5 oz plain flour
• 1 oz crushed/chopped hazelnuts (I got mine ready chopped in a packet from the supermarket)

Method

1. Peel the apples, remove the cores and chop them into bite sized pieces. Put them in a small saucepan with 1cm cold water. Put the lid on and place the pan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5-7mins or until the apple is tender but not mushy (keep an eye on it- mushiness can happen in the blink of an eye!)
2. When the apples are cooked set them aside to cool while you make the topping.
3. To make the crumble- put the flour into a big bowl and chop the butter into little pieces. Rub the butter into the flour using the tips of your fingers until the mixture starts to look like breadcrumbs.
4. Add the oats, sugars and hazelnuts and mix well.
5. At this point you can either: set aside the crumble elements and assemble the pudding later if you’re making it before a dinner party or something, or you can just assemble it now and bake it straight away. However, don’t assemble the crumble then leave it to sit- this will end up in the juices soaking into the crumble mix and it will be soggy by the time you come to bake it.
6. When you are ready to bake. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/ gas mark 6.
7. Put the apple and raspberries into an ovenproof dish- the size and shape doesn’t really matter, but you want roughly 3-4 cm of room above the filling to accommodate the crumble and any bubbling juices.
8. Sprinkle the crumble on top and place in the oven for 35mins or until the topping is golden brown.

9. Spoon into bowls and serve with a big spoonful of double cream.