Apple Crumble

Apple Crumble is one of my favourite desserts... I've always loved anything with apples. It always reminds of helping my mum to bake apple tarts in the autumn. I'm not sure what it is about that memory I like so much....I was only ever allowed to brush the egg onto the pastry before they went in the oven, but it's those days at home that fuelled my passion for baking.....

I rarely actually have dessert myself. I do however always taste a small amount of each recipe. I'm not going to post recipes without knowing they taste good... I made these Apple Crumble Tarts for dessert over the weekend, and it's been a long time since I wanted to snatch someone's dessert away & keep it all for me... If you like apple, believe me you're going to absolutely LOVE these tarts...

As always, this recipe is grain free, and only contains 1 tsp of honey in the whole recipe! That's impressive...You could always replace the honey with some date paste if you have some to hand..

For the tart cases, I used the same pastry recipe as in my Chocolate Tart. I used 6 tartlet pans, but you could use a 9" loose bottom pie dish if you prefer.

For the apple filling

• 5 large cooking apples, peeled and chopped
• 3 sweet eating apples, peeled and chopped
• 50g unsalted butter
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Peel, core and slice all the apples.

Start by stewing the cooking apples with the butter until softened with a few chunks of apple remaining to give a nice texture. 

Once cooked, add cinnamon and vanilla & set aside to cool. 

Meanwhile, cook the eating apples until softened. Add to the cooking apple mixture to sweeten. Allow to cool. (Depending on personal taste, you may wish to add some honey here... I don't think it's necessary, but taste the apple to check...)

For the crumble topping:

• 50g almond flour
• 30g milled flax seed
• 30g dessicated coconut
• 30g flaked almonds 
• 25g roughly chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp Keen Almond butter
• 3 tbsp stewed apple mixture
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp raw Irish honey

Preheat oven to 160d fan.

Mix all ingredients until well combined. 

Spread an even layer of your crumble topping onto a baking tray. 

Bake in preheated oven for approx 20 minutes until crumble is crispy and golden. Keep tossing the mixture every 5 minutes to prevent burning. 

Once baked, set aside to cool. 

To assemble the tarts:

Spoon a generous amount of apple into each cooked tart shell.

Top with lots of crumble. 

That's it! Simple right? 

Everything is baked individually to prevent over-browning, to keep the base crispy and to stop the apple bubbling out of the tart shells. It's a little more time consuming doing it this way, but I can honestly say it's really worth it. 

If you're someone who prefers warm apple crumble, simply microwave the tart for 1 minutes to heat it slightly, then place in oven preheated to 160d for 5 minutes to warm through. If you try to heat it fully in the microwave, the pasty and crumble will start to go soggy... be patient and use the oven! 

I served this tart with Vanilla Custard that tasted so delicious, I honestly could have sat down with a spoon and eaten it on it's own!! 

For the custard:

• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 3 egg yolks 
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Place all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl & whisk over a moderate heat until thickened and smooth. 

This is a labour of love... it's going to take 20 minutes to reduce & thicken, but it's absolutely worth it! 

You can make this custard in advance, store in the fridge and keep covered with cling film.