Apple Crumble

This traditional Apple Crumble Recipe became popular during the World War II era as an economical alternative to a true pie with pastry. Today, of course, we still love this dessert. Especially when it's served with ice-cream!

Sweetly stewed apple. Crunchy, buttery topping. It's no wonder this recipe is a keeper! And although it's fairly simple, you need to get the quantities of those basics right to make sure you get just the right amount of apple vs crumble. And you want that contrast between the tender apple and crisp, crumbly topping. That's exactly what this recipe delivers – it'll give you a clear idea of why it's been handed down through the generations since the early 1900s.

(If you love crumbles, check out my Rhubarb Crumble recipe!)

Jump to:

• The Recipe
• Ingredient notes
• How to make Apple Crumble
• Serving your old fashioned apple dessert
• Recipe FAQs
• More apple recipes
• Apple Crumble

The Recipe

Apple Crumble is generally regarded as British in origin. As mentioned above, it's a recipe that became particularly popular during the World War II era, and this is exactly when it was recorded by Nana Ling – right here in Australia during October 1941.

Note: I've included a copy of Nana Ling's original recipe below, but I've tweaked it ever so slightly so keep scrolling to find the recipe card at the bottom of this post (and it's also much easier to read and follow in the recipe card).

Ingredient notes

Note that the full ingredient list and quantities are in the recipe card at the end of this post.

To make this classic Apple Crumble, you'll of course need apples! I used 5 small-ish Granny Smith apples. Depending on the size of the apples you have, you might need between 4 and 6. Just use however many apples make up about 550 grams.

Granny Smith apples are widely available in Australia and particularly well-suited for cooking. Their tartness provides a great backdrop for sweet desserts and they are a reasonably firm variety of apple. However, these varieties also work well in crumble:

• Pink Lady: Also sweet-tart with a firm texture.
• Fuji: Sweet, crisp and textured.
• Royal Gala: Sweet with a mildly aromatic flavour.
• Braeburn: Another apple with a sweet-tart flavour and a firm texture.
• Red Delicious: A milder flavoured apple.
• Jazz: Sweet and tangy, great for eating or cooking.

You'll also need these other ingredients:

• golden syrup (or substitute honey, treacle or corn syrup)
• SR flour (or plain/all-purpose flour + baking powder)
• salt
• brown sugar
• butter
• desiccated coconut (unsweetened).

You might notice that there is coconut in this apple crumble but there are no oats. Why? Because this is a traditional recipe from the early 1900s. More modern recipes often incorporate oats and other ingredients used in the Apple Crisp, which is more popular in the United States.

How to make Apple Crumble

Prepping

Start by pre-heating the oven to moderate (180 degrees celsius/355 degrees fahrenheit, fan-forced) and greasing a baking or pie dish (about 1.5 litre capacity) generously with butter.

Alternatively, you could use 4–6 smaller dishes to create individual Apple Crumbles.

Stewing the apple

Peel and core the apples. Then chop them into small pieces (about 2 x 2cm) and place in a saucepan.

Add the water and golden syrup to the apples in the saucepan.

Bring to the boil and then simmer gently until the fruit is soft. This should take about 10 minutes.

Layering your crumble

Place the stewed fruit into greased dish (or 6 small dishes).

How to make Apple Crumble topping

Next, rub the butter into flour, salt and sugar (or you can get this ready while your fruit is stewing).

That's all you need to do to make the crumble topping

Sprinkle this mixture onto the stewed fruit and then sprinkle the coconut on top.

When putting this recipe together, the crumble layer should be about half as thick as the apple layer.

Baking

Bake in a moderate oven for 20-30 minutes or until a golden colour. Once cooked, the crumble becomes extra crumbly!

Serving your old fashioned apple dessert

The best way to enjoy this apple dessert is to serve it warm, straight from the oven, with a generous scoop of ice-cream or some whipped cream.

Recipe FAQs

More apple recipes

Check out these other favourite apple recipes from the collection:

Made this recipe and love it? Please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. (And it really makes my day to hear how Nana Ling's recipes are being made, shared and loved all around the world! - Libby x)

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