Why I love this...
OK, full disclosure. There is nothing traditionally healthy about this, but I ALWAYS believe that homemade is better - and healthier - than shop-bought so in my head this is still good for you. Plus it's fruit, just with an additional secret ingredient ;-) Realistically it is super-indulgent, unbelievably tasty and my go-to for those 'I basically have no time, but need a crowdpleaser dessert' moments. It's beautiful in its simplicity, but never fails to surprise leaving you with only one difficult question: custard or ice cream?
Ingredients
600g Bramley apples (weight unpeeled and cored)
3 tbsp Soft brown sugar
2 Mars bars (standard size)
150g Plain flour
100g Unsalted butter, plus 1 tsp - cold and directly from the fridge
50g Demerara sugar
40g Caster sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon, ground
Pinch salt
Equipment
Chopping board
Chopping knife
Pie dish (I use a round 24cm)
Teaspoon
Tablespoon
Medium saucepan
Medium bowl
Scale
Appliances: Oven, Hob
Preparation
Peel, core and thinly slice the apples.
Put the teaspoon of butter in the pan on a low heat until it melts, then add the apples and soft brown sugar. Sautée on a low-medium heat until the apples are slightly soft and most of the liquid has turned into a syrupy coating on the apples. This should take about 10 minutes. During this time stir regularly and chop the Mars bars into small 1cm chunks.
Heat the oven to 180º C fan. Meanwhile, add the Mars chunks to the pan, stir and then pop it all into the pie dish making sure all is equally dispersed across the dish. Leave to cool whilst the oven is heating and you make the topping.
In your bowl, mix the flour, demerara & caster sugars, salt and butter (I save time cubing by just using a teaspoon to take pieces of the block and pop them directly into the bowl) and rub between your fingers to create a crumble topping. When you are happy with the consistency, stir through the cinnamon.
Top the apples with the crumble mix, pop into the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until it's bubbling and the topping has a gorgeous golden colour.
TOP TIP: You can make this ahead and just keep the whole thing in the fridge. Take it out 10 minutes before you are ready to bake.