With Christmas just around the corner, now is the perfect time to start thinking about which delicious desserts you want to serve up during the festive season. One recipe that is sure to go down with a bang is a hearty Christmas apple crumble – everyone’s favourite treat.
Made with fresh, crisp Pink Lady® apples (which are crisp, juicy and perfectly sweet, having been harvested after 200 days of growing in the sunshine and ideal for cooking as they hold their shape), this unique recipe will set your Christmas crumble apart from the rest. Why? Well, the Pink Lady® apples will bring a naturally sweet enhancement to this traditional dessert, which, by the way, makes for a fun baking activity to do with the kids.
Plus, to really help you bring the wow factor this festive season, HELLO! has teamed up with Pink Lady to give away 10 Christmas hampers. To enter, simply sign up to the Pink Lady® newsletter and you’ll be in with a chance of winning one of 10 festive hampers.
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How to make the ultimate Christmas apple crumble
Ingredients
Filling
- 10 (1.7kg) Pink Lady® apples, peeled, cored and diced into 2.5cm cubes
- 2 tbsp golden caster sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp plain flour
Topping
- 90g rolled oats
- 150g light brown demerara sugar
- 150g self-raising flour
- 100g skinned hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- 120g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
MORE: These apple mince pies are divine for Christmas – try the recipes here!
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas mark 5. Peel, core and dice the Pink Lady® apples into roughly 2.5cm cubes. Then measure out the filling ingredients.
2. To make the filling, put the apples, golden caster sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and plain flour in a saucepan with 50ml water. Cook on a medium heat for roughly 15 minutes, stirring well throughout, until the apples have softened nicely.
3. For the topping, add the oats, demerara sugar, self-raising flour and chopped hazelnuts to a large bowl. Carefully pour over the melted butter and vanilla extract and stir to combine.
4. Once the apples have softened and the topping has been combined, lightly grease a heat-proof dish with a little butter.
5. Fill the dish with the softened apples and top with the crumble mix making sure all the apples are completely covered.
6. Place the dish onto the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 40 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.
7. To serve, top the apple crumble with vanilla ice cream or custard. You can serve it hot or cold – either way, your guests will be left asking for more!
To explore more festive dessert recipes, head to pinkladyapples.co.uk
