Enjoyed throughout the winter months with custard or ice cream, apple crumble is a heartwarming dessert. I recently whipped up the ultimate apple crumble using just four simple ingredients. This Mary Berry Apple Crumble recipe is a gem, one you’ll want to revisit time and again. It’s also a Mary Berry fan favourite featured in Mary Berry’s new cookbook ‘Mary Makes It Easy ‘!”
Prep: 5 mins Total: 50 mins Yields: 6
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What is THE Mary Makes It Easy Apple Crumble?
Apple crumble is the quintessence of British comfort food – sweet, delicious, and topped with that perfect crunch.
While there are countless variations with additions like blackberries or oats, simplicity has its charm. In my quest for the easiest recipe, I discovered the “best” crumble recipes for crumble boasting most ratings are made up using just apples, butter, sugar and flour!
You can’t beat a traditional apple filling topped with crispy, buttery crumble – classic comfort food at its best.
Why you’ll like it
- Traditional 4-ingredients. There’s nothing quite like the classic comfort of a traditional apple filling topped with a crispy, buttery crumble – it’s comfort food at its BEST!
- Never fails apple crumble recipe. This dessert is easy and never fails to impress. You don’t have to worry that one day it will turn bad or that someone will not like oats, nuts or nutmeg!
- Quick and simple. To whip up all you need is 5 minutes and the recipe is ready to serve in 50 minutes.
- Extremely versatile. Just learn the basic ingredient measurements and leave the rest up to your imagination. If you pop in some seeds, spices, nuts, blackberries or pears you’ll be tasting a different version every time.
What are the Ingredients for THE Mary Berry Apple Crumble?
- Baking Apples: 1.5 kg (3lb 5oz) cooking apples
- Butter: 30g (1oz)
- Muscovado sugar: 175g (1oz) light muscovado sugar
For the Crumble Topping
- Flour: 175g (6oz) plain flour
- Demerara sugar: 55g (2oz) demerara sugar
- Butter: 115g (4oz) unsalted butter, softened
How to make THE Mary Berry Apple Crumble?
- Preheat oven. Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6. Grab a 25cm (10in) round shallow ovenproof pie dish.
- Precook the apples. In a wide-based pan, combine the apples with 2 tablespoons of water and butter. Cook over a gentle heat for around 6 minutes, stirring regularly, until the apples become tender. Take it off the heat, mix in the sugar, and let it cool.
- For the crumble topping. Measure the ingredients into a large bowl and rub them together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Assemble. Spoon the cooled apples into the pie dish, levelling the surface. Sprinkle an even layer of crunchy topping over the apples, then add a dash of extra demerara sugar.
- Bake. Pop it into the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4 and bake for another 20 minutes until it turns golden and starts bubbling.
- Serve. Serve it hot with cream, custard, ice cream, or crème fraîche!
Tips and Tricks to Make A Perfect Apple Crumble
- You can assemble it up to 6 hours ahead. However, it’s best to cook it just before serving. It also freezes well when assembled and uncooked.
Variations for the Mary Berry’s Apple Crumble
- Mixed Fruit: Experiment with different fruits, such as pears, strawberries or cherries, to create a mixed fruit crumble such as apples and blackberries that is popular in winter.
- Dried Fruit Mix: Add raisins, almonds or pecans to the crumble topping for a crunchy, flavourful touch.
What To Serve With THE Apple Crumble Mary Berry
- Vanilla Ice Cream: Apple Crumble is delicious served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and tastes perfect when melting on the crunchy topping onto the apple filling.
- Whipped Cream: A generous dollop of fresh whipped cream adds extra richness to the dessert.
- Custard: Absolutely a British favourite!
How to store Apple Crumble Mary Berry?
- Room Temperature: Up to 1-2 days, covered in a cool, dry place.
- Refrigeration: Up to 3-4 days, tightly covered.
- Freezing: Up to 2-3 months, tightly wrapped and in an airtight container.
Reheat refrigerated or thawed frozen crumble before serving.
Nutritional Notes Per Serving (Assuming 6 servings)
- Calories: Approximately 400-450 kcal
- Protein: 2-3g
- Carbohydrates: 70-80g
- Sugars: 40-50g
- Fat: 15-20g
- Saturated Fat: 9-12g
- Fiber: 5-7g
You might like more…
MORE CRISPS, COBBLER & CRUMBLES
- Apple Cobbler Pioneer Woman
- Rhubarb and Ginger Crumble Mary Berry
- Apple and Blackberry Crumble
- Lemon Crumble Cheesecake
Final Takeaway (4 out of 5)
PROS: This is a family-friendly dessert and a winner with younger kids. This sweet treat is easy to remember and perfect if you want to whip up something quick and easy without having to remember by heart lots of extra ingredients. This is also a perfect solution if you have overripe apples or pears in your pantry and need to use them before having to throw them away. No matter what anyone tells you, this one never fails even for beginners!
CONS: The only downside is the calorie bill. You can substitute the butter with olive oil if you prefer and also limit a little the sugar especially if you’re going to serve it with ice cream or custard.
Verdict: 4/5: I promote and suggest that you try this classic British dish.
Apple Crumble Recipe Mary Berry
Ingredients
- 1.5 kilograms 3 pounds 5 ounces cooking apples
- 30 grams 1 ounces butter
- 175 grams 1 ounces light muscovado sugar
- For the Crumble Topping
- 175 grams 6 ounces plain flour
- 55 grams 2 ounces demerara sugar
- 115 g 4oz unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
- Preheat oven. Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C Fan/Gas 6. Grab a 25cm (10in) round shallow ovenproof pie dish.
- Precook the apples. In a wide-based pan, combine the apples with 2 tablespoons of water and butter. Cook over a gentle heat for around 6 minutes, stirring regularly, until the apples become tender. Take it off the heat, mix in the sugar, and let it cool.
- For the crumble topping. Measure the ingredients into a large bowl and rub them together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
- Assemble. Spoon the cooled apples into the pie dish, leveling the surface. Sprinkle an even layer of crumble topping over the apples, then add a dash of extra demerara sugar.
- Bake. Pop it into the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4 and bake for another 20 minutes until it turns golden and starts bubbling.
- Serve. Serve it hot with cream, custard, ice cream, or crème fraîche!
Mary Berry Baking Bible Apple Crumble Recipe
Why you’ll like the Apple Crumble from the Baking Bible?
What sets this apple crumble apart is her expert technique.
- Precooked apples. Mary Berry advises pre-cooking the apples slightly to soften them and release their natural juices before adding the crumble topping. Pre-cooking the apples prevents a soggy bottom and allows the apples to cook evenly while keeping the topping crisp.
- Topping is baked separately. The crumble topping is baked separately from the apples giving the crumble topping a fresher and crustier result.
- Added sunflower seeds to the topping. Sunflower seeds provide a pleasant crunch and a slightly nutty flavour to the crumble topping while also being a good source of healthy fats and nutrients, making the crumble more nutritious.
- Includes walnuts. Besides the buttery taste, and added crunch walnuts are packed with proteins and omega-3 fatty acids.
- Fibre. Oats give the crumble a totally different texture, adding texture and taste to the crumble. The good news is that it helps us increase our fiber intake making it a more wholesome and satisfying treat.
“Mary Berry Baking Bible” Apple Crumble Ingredients
- Baking Apples: 5 oz (1.5kg) cooking apples.
- Lemon juice: ½ lemon, juice only
- Muscovado sugar: ½ cup (100g) light muscovado sugar
- Water: 6 tablespoons water
FOR THE TOPPLE CRUMBLE MIX
- Flour: 6½ tablespoons (50g) plain flour
- Oats: 1/3 cup (50g) porridge oats
- Muscovado sugar: 3/4 cup (150g) light muscovado sugar
- Walnuts: 5½ oz (150g) walnuts, roughly chopped
- Sunflower seeds: 1/3 cup (50g) sunflower seeds
- Butter: 3½ oz (100g) unsalted butter, softened
How to make Mary Berry Apple Crumble (from the Baking Bible)
- Oven. Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Cook the apples. Peel and cut the apples into thin slices. Place lemon juice, sugar, and six tablespoons of water in a small casserole. Bring to a boil, then place in the oven for around 20 minutes until the apple is tender but not too much to become pulp!
- Dry ingredients. Add the dry topping ingredients to a mixing bowl.
- Mix butter. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it is thoroughly blended forming a perfect crumble topping.
- Bake. Spread the mixture evenly over a baking tray. Bake until golden brown and crisp.
- Serve. Take out from the oven after around 20 minutes. Gently break up the crumble and sprinkle it over the hot apple.
Mary Berry Apple Crumble
Crunchy with Walnuts & Sunflower Seeds this Mary Berry Apple Crumble never gets soggy!
Ingredients
- 5 oz 1.5kg apples, like Bramley or Granny Smith to get the right acidity and texture.
- ½ lemon juice only
- ½ cup 100g light muscovado sugar
- 6 tablespoons water
For the topping crumble mix
- 6½ tablespoons 50g plain flour
- 1/3 cup 50g porridge oats
- 3/4 cup 150g light muscovado sugar
- 5½ oz 150g walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1/3 cup 50g sunflower seeds
- 3½ oz 100g unsalted butter, softened
Instructions
- Oven. Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Cook the apples. Peel and cut the apples into thin slices. Place lemon juice, sugar, and six tablespoons of water in a small casserole. Bring to a boil, then place in the oven for around 20 minutes until the apple is tender but not too much to become pulp!
- Dry ingredients. Add the dry topping ingredients to a mixing bowl.
- Mix butter. Rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it is thoroughly blended forming a perfect crumble topping.
- Bake. Spread the mixture evenly over a baking tray. Bake until golden brown and crisp.
- Serve. Take out from the oven after around 20 minutes. Gently break up the crumble and sprinkle it over the hot apple.
I love this apple crumble by Mary Berry simple as is! The result is always a crisp crumble and it doesn’t get soggy like other recipe. I also love to add cranberries in autumn or rhubarb when it’s in season
If you feel like visiting again, I’m adding more and more Mary Berry crumbles like plum crumble, plum and apples crumbles and more to come!
One of my all time favourite recipes. I love the recipe presented here as it is very accurate in measurements and also a very easy recipe to follow. Thanks Caroline for presenting us this version of a great classic. Bookmarked!
Thank you for the feedback and for bookmarking it Louise. It’s my pleasure presenting the recipe as accurate as possible without any personal tweaks and double check it with the book. Hope to see you around!