Gluten Free Apple Crumble

Although you don't see many of the classics here at Sugar & Two Cents, suspend your for the penchant exotic and complicated desserts for this simple gluten-free apple crumble recipe. 

On the weekend we had a lot of old, wrinkly and rotting apples lying around. I don't like eating apples at the best of times, but they had to be used up. The Royal Galas were at that stage where they were dry and floury to the bite. You know what I mean. I needed to disguise that nasty texture, which could only be achieved by cooking them. With a load of apples and a love for crumble, this was the dessert of choice!

Still a bit lacking in confidence with gluten-free baking, I scoured the www for a while, trying to find a great gluten-free recipe. I came across a great post from minimalist baker for 'apple crisp' (the American name for crumble). I'll admit it's a bit pedantic, but her fruit-topping ratio isn't as generous as other recipes, so I combined the best bits of both worlds by (pretty much) doubling the topping.

In gf cooking, the majority of gluten-free flours produce disappointing results. In my baking experience, there's no good substitute for wheat flour in cakes. Even shop-bought cakes have the texture of heavy kitchen sponges. So I personally stay away from gf cakes. But there's a bit more leniency with a crumble. What I love about this recipe, is how the mixture of ground almonds (which moisten cakes) and gluten-free flour (which saps out all moisture) kind of counteract each other. It means that you don't get that sandy gluten-free texture (hats off to minimalist baker).

Right then, what sets this crumble apart? A few inspired tweaks. Firstly, since I like to cut corners where possible, there's no cooking the fruit beforehand. But adding sugar to fruit brings out the juices (thinking back to GCSE chemistry, I think that process is called osmosis... or diffusion...) Problematic? No. To help you avoid a watery fruit base, this recipe tosses in a bit of cornflour with the raw apples. The juices also bubble up around the side of the dish and caramelise into a wonderful, sticky apple-toffee-type-thing. Also, expect the sweet scent of cinnamon to waft around your house, because in this recipe you'll be throwing in lavish amounts of the stuff. Finally, I used Royal Galas rather than traditional green cooking apples, because that's what we had left over, and anyway, who really cares?! Use whatever kind of apple you want. If you use a variety that's a bit more tart than a Royal Gala, increase the sugar by a couple of tablespoons.

Gluten-Free Apple Crumble/Apple Crisp

Adapted from minimalist baker

Serves 6-8

10-12 small-medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/3 cup white sugar

2 tbsp cornflour

1 tbsp cinnamon

Pinch of salt

TOPPING

1 1/4 cup gluten-free oats
2/3 cup butter, slightly salted, softened
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup gluten free flour blend
1/2 cup ground almonds
1 heaped tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees. Lightly grease a medium sized baking dish.

2. Add apples to a large bowl. Toss to coat with white sugar, cornflour, cinnamon, and salt. Transfer to baking dish and set aside.

3. To a bowl add the brown sugar, flour, ground almonds, 1 cup of the oats and cinnamon and stir. Add softened butter and mix until it resembles breadcrumbs or wet sand (alternatively, get in there and get your fingers dirty).

4. Cover the apples with the topping, avoid pressing down. Sprinkle over the remaining 1/4 cup of oats. Bake for 1 hour, or until apples are soft and topping is golden brown.

Let rest 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve with custard or vanilla-ice cream.

------------------

Receive free, regular updates and recipe ideas by subscribing to this blog!