Name: Toffee apple crumble
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: English
Ingredients: 100g raisin; 100g pitted soft dates snipped into small pieces with scissors; 85g light muscovado sugar; 3 tbsp dark rum (or use orange juice); 25g unsalted butter; 1 tsp mixed spice; zest and juice 1 lemon; 4 Bramley apples about 800g, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm rings; 125g plain flour; 100g unsalted butter; 50g light muscovado sugar; 3 tbsp jumbo oats; 25g flaked almond (or use other nuts if you like); custard or ice cream to serve

Baked apple and toffee crumble with an oat topping

For the apple layer

100g raisin
100g pitted soft dates
snipped into small pieces with scissors
85g light muscovado sugar
3 tbsp dark rum
(or use orange juice)
25g unsalted butter
1 tsp mixed spice
zest and juice 1 lemon
4 Bramley apples
about 800g, peeled, cored and cut into 1cm rings

For the crumble

125g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
50g light muscovado sugar
3 tbsp jumbo oats
25g flaked almond
(or use other nuts if you like)
custard or ice cream
to serve

Method

step 1
Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Put everything for the apple layer, except the lemon juice and apples, into a bowl and microwave on High for 1½ mins until the butter has melted and the sugar is syrupy. Toss in the apples and lemon juice, then spoon into a medium baking dish, making sure the dried fruit is evenly distributed.
step 2
Rub the flour and butter together, first into fine crumbs, then keep going until the mix forms bigger clumps, a bit like a rough biscuit dough. Stir in the sugar, oats and almonds. Scatter over the fruit, then cover with foil and bake for 1 hr, removing the foil for the final 30 mins, until golden and bubbling. Rest for 10 mins, then serve with custard or ice cream.