Mary Berry Apple and Rhubarb Crumble

Sharp rhubarb and soft, collapsing apples bake under a buttery brown sugar crumble in this classic British pudding. Here's how to get a light, crisp topping and a bubbling, jammy filling every time.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 40

Total Time 55

Servings: 6

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Calories: 450

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

For the Fruit Filling

450 g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces (even pieces soften evenly)
350 g Bramley or Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chunked (Bramleys give the softest, fluffiest result)
120 g golden caster sugar
1 tsp ground ginger

For the Crumble Topping

200 g plain flour
100 g salted butter, cold and cubed (keep it in the fridge until the moment you need it)
70 g light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Heat the oven. Set it to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6 so it’s fully up to temperature by the time the crumble is assembled.
Coat the fruit. Put the rhubarb, apples, golden caster sugar and ground ginger into a large bowl and toss everything together. Keep going until every piece of fruit has a light coating of sugar and spice, with no dry clumps of ginger left at the bottom.
Fill the dish. Tip the coated fruit into a 1.5-litre (2½ pint) shallow ovenproof dish. Spread it into an even layer so the topping sits level and the fruit cooks at the same rate across the dish.
Rub in the butter. In a separate large, clean bowl, combine the flour with the cold, cubed butter. Work the butter into the flour with your fingertips, lifting the mixture as you go, and stop once it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. It should feel loose and dry, not doughy.
Stir in the flavourings. Add the light brown sugar and vanilla extract to the crumbs and stir them through with a spoon or fork, which keeps the butter cool and the texture light.
Top the fruit. Scatter the crumble evenly across the fruit, reaching right to the edges. Leave it loose rather than pressing it down, so it bakes crisp.
Bake until golden and bubbling. Bake for 35-40 minutes. It’s ready when the topping is an even golden brown and thick fruit juices are bubbling up around the edges of the dish.
Rest and serve. Leave the crumble to stand for a few minutes so the bubbling filling settles, then serve it warm.

Notes

How To Avoid A Heavy, Pasty Crumble

The most common disappointment with crumble is a topping that bakes into a dense, doughy lid instead of crisp clusters. It almost always starts at the rubbing-in stage, when the butter is too warm or the mixture is worked for too long.

Warm butter doesn’t coat the flour, it smears into it. Combined with overworking, that creates a soft paste that bakes into something closer to a biscuit layer, often pale and damp underneath where it meets the fruit.

The fix is simple. Take the butter straight from the fridge, cube it, and work quickly. When you add the topping to the dish, scatter it loosely over the fruit rather than pressing it down, so steam from the filling can escape through the gaps instead of soaking the crumb.