Apple Crumble (vegan, gluten free and nut free)

At this time of year my thoughts turn to comfort foods, and the use of seasonal staples such as apples and pears.

Apple Crumble and some amazing Raspberry IceDelight
(no colourings here - just naturally pink from the fresh raspberries!)

This week I've been playing with a wonderful selection of IceDelight flavours and I have plenty of other delights for you in the next few days along with a review of IceDelight for Real Foods. However, today I've been making Apple Crumble, one of the simplest and most comforting of desserts. I make mine completely plain, but you can add cinnamon for a bit of an apple pie style or any other autumnal fruit to boost the flavour.

I used wheat flour to make mine this time, but I have in the past used a plain gluten free flour mix and it has worked beautifully well, as it makes the topping lovely and short and light. I also didn't have enough Bramley apples so I used a selection of five from the fruit bowl today and no-one complained!

Apple Crumble

Ingredients

100g Solid Dairy Free Margarine (I use block Stork)
75g   Golden Sugar
175g Plain Flour (Wheat flour or Gluten Free)

3 to 4 cooking apples such as Bramley (or 5 eating apples)
Another teaspoon or two of sugar depending on how tat the apples are

Method

1. Put the margarine, sugar and flour in a Classic Batter Bowl.

2. Using a Pastry Blender, or your fingers, mix together until you have a sandy, fine textured crumb.

3. Peel and slice the apples and place in the bottom of a Mini Baker with a sprinkle of sugar.

4. Cover the apples with the crumble mix and give the surface some texture to give more crunch once baked.

5. Bake at 180°C for 40-50 mins until golden brown and crisp.

6. Serve with your favourite ice cream style dessert.  Our favourite at the moment is IceDelight from a farm just along the road at Belhaven in Dunbar. It complements the flavour of the apples beautifully and lifts the pudding into something really special.

Cobblers!

I made an apple and bramble (blackberry) cobbler last night for the first time and it was fabulous!  I can't believe a cobbler is something I have never made, let alone eaten, before. We do crumbles in this house all the time - rhubarb, apple, apple and bramble, strawberry (yes but its truly yummy!), mixed fruit, and pies when I can be bothered with the rolling out of pastry.  But why have I never tried this American classic before?  I just don't know.  And having tried it now, it's going to be a fixture.

A gooey fruity bottom crowned with an amazing fluffy, scone-like topping.  What is there not to like?

I used my lovely little Pampered Chef mini baker to do this, and it fitted beautifully!  It looked gorgeous just out of the oven and definitely fabulous to take straight to the table to serve.

The Pampered Chef Mini Baker. Isn't it pretty?

As usual I have veganified the recipe and used non dairy spread and soya yoghurt but it is intended to use the real stuff.  The vegan version is delicious so I'm sure it will be fabulous as an omnivorous version too!

Wondering why I'm on about brambles?  We use the term brambles for blackberries in Scotland.

Bramley Apple and Bramble Cobbler
  
Ingredients

3 Bramley apples
Big handful of blackberries (I used the ones I had in the freezer and just chucked them in)
100g sugar plus 2tbsp
75g Butter / Vegan Spread
170g self raising flour
125ml plain yoghurt

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C

1.  Peel and core the apples on a cutting board.  If they are small enough use an apple wedger, if not you could use the veggie wedger, like I did. My bramleys were monsters!  Chop into smaller pieces with a utility knife and put into the mini baker.

2.  Add the blackberries and scatter over a tablespoonful of the sugar using the large adjustable measuring spoon.

3. Put 100g sugar, the flour and butter into a classic batter bowl and mix with a mix n masher to create crumbs (or use the old fashioned rubbing in method)

4. Add the yoghurt measured in an easy read measuring cup, and stir until it becomes a messy dough.

5. Spoon onto the top of the apples and blackberries in little mounds leaving gaps if you can.  Sprinkle with another tablespoon of sugar and bake for 40 mins till golden brown.

Enjoy with ice cream or whipped cream and the smile of a domestic goddess happy in the knowledge she whipped that up quickly and with the minimum of fuss.


Tip : No self raising flour?  Use plain flour and add 2 tsp of baking powder to this mix too!