Gluten-free apple and ginger crumble

Not yet rated

Apple crumble is one of the nation's favourite puddings and the good news is that those with wheat intolerances needn't lose out. Victoria shares a heart-warming recipe for gluten-free apple and ginger crumble.

It’s Bramley Apple Week and I don’t need much persuading to get my Bramleys out for this delicious crumble. Bramleys have exactly the right balance of acidity and sweetness for baking, which is why they're my personal apple of choice for crumbles. If your taste buds have other ideas, by all means swap them for your favoured apple variety or anything else you’ve got lurking in the fruit bowl, but crumbles are best when they're not too tooth-achingly sweet. A little tartness is needed to balance the sugary crunch of the topping.

The gentle heat of ginger gives this apple crumble a pleasant kick – perfect for winter weather – and makes a nice change from the usual cinnamon. I served this for pudding with a generous splodge of vanilla custard when my parents came round for lunch. My dad thought it was so delicious he asked for a second helping – high praise indeed from a man who is naturally suspicious of anything gluten-free. This is wheat-free baking at its best. Comforting, nostalgic, delicious and as simple to make as it gets.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Apple and ginger filling

Gluten-free crumble

  • 100g of light brown sugar, soft (or use caster if you prefer)
  • 100g of rice flour
  • 50g of porridge oats, gluten-free
  • 50g of almonds, toasted
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 100g of unsalted butter, cold and diced

Method

1
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
2
Toss together the apple slices, stem ginger, ground ginger and sugar and pop it all in a heatproof dish
3
To make the crumble topping, simply chuck all the dry ingredients into a food processor and pulse to chop the nuts and oats up a bit. If you prefer a more rustic finish, skip this stage
4
Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until your mixture resembles breadcrumbs. You can add the butter to the processor and pulse to achieve the same results if you’re feeling lazy
5
Scatter the crumble topping over the fruit and bake for 35 – 40 minutes

Victoria is a London-based food writer and recipe developer. She was the Roald Dahl Museum’s first ever Gastronomic Writer in Residence and has written six books, including her latest, Too Good To Waste.

Get in touch

Please sign in or register to send a comment to Great British Chefs.