Apple & Hazelnut Crumble

A gluten-free recipe by Hafiz Ladell.

Serves 6
Prep time 35 mins
Bake time 40 mins

A crumble dessert is a wonderful way to make use of the season’s bounty – whether that is a fresh windfall in your own garden, or a box left out on the street by a generous neighbour.

Once you’ve got the hang of crumble mix, you can play around with it in all sorts of ways. For other crumble recipes, check out Bramble & Apple Crumble, Sloe Pear Crumble.

Ingredients

500-600 g bramley apples (weight after peeling and coring)
100 g raisins
75 g currants
100 g light brown sugar
½ lemon, zest and juice
½ tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp clove powder
2 pieces preserved ginger, chopped

Crumble Topping

100 g ground almonds
75 g gluten-free flour
100 g light brown sugar
100 g butter, chilled
50 g chopped hazelnuts

Method

Rub a little butter around the base and sides of an 8″ square (or equivalent) pie dish. Set the oven to 180°C, Gas Mk 4.
Peel and core the apples, then cut into small pieces. Add the vinefruit, sugar, lemon and spices, toss well together, then make an even layer in the pie dish.
To assemble the nutty and nubbly crumble topping, measure the ground almonds, flour and sugar into a medium bowl. Cut the chilled butter into small cubes, then add to the bowl. Working quickly, so as not to melt the butter with over-warm fingers, rub the butter into the mix until it is fairly evenly distributed.
Fold in the nuts, then strew the crumble evenly over the top of the fruit, being sure to avoid any gaps where the fruit might bubble through.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the topping is mottled golden. If you can’t wait, serve warm, ideally with lashings of custard. Once cooled, though, the crumble will have crisped up, to provide a wonderful contrast to the fruity filling.

As published on Hafiz’s website Magic Cookbook Online.
Hafiz has been compiling an online database of the many vegetarian recipes he has written over the course of his catering career. It’s a work in progress – though recent additions to his repertoire are necessarily all gluten-free. Here’s a link to the Gluten-Free! page.