This apple and raspberry crumble is a perfect family dessert full of summer flavours. The moist apple filling, fragrant raspberries covered with a crispy topping, and pieces of melted chocolate make an irresistible combination.
⏳
60 - 70 minutes
👪
5 - 6 servings
🍎
675 kcal/serving
Bookmarks
- ❤️ Why I like this Apple and Raspberry Crumble
- 📃 Ingredient Overview and Easy Substitutions
- ⌛ Hands-on Time and Recipe Difficulty
- 📷 How to Make Apple and Raspberry Crumble in Pictures
- ⚡ What Can Go Wrong?
- 👪 Yield/Portions and Serving
- 🍎 Nutritional Value in my Apple and Raspberry Crumble
- 💡 How to Modify the Recipe
- Leftovers
- Apple and Raspberry Crumble with Chocolate and Hazelnuts
I like to think of summer every time I make my apple and raspberry crumble recipe.
Adding raspberries, chocolate and hazelnuts to the traditional apple crumble gives the dessert a playful mood, reminding me of long sunny days, sweet fruit and fragrant buzzing meadows.
❤️ Why I like this Apple and Raspberry Crumble
- doesn't need much effort
- the recipe takes around an hour to make
- an irresistible combination of raspberries and chocolate
- great for a family gathering
- twist from a more traditional version
📃 Ingredient Overview and Easy Substitutions
For the Crumble Topping
- 180g plain flour
- 100g caster sugar
- 100g unsalted butter; cut into small 1 cm cubes
- 50g chocolate; chocolate chips or chopped chocolate block
- 50g blanched hazelnuts; crushed
For the Fruit Base
- 3 medium-sized apples; peeled, cored quarters of the apples cut into slices
- 250g raspberries
- 100g caster sugar
Fruit
Apples add volume and natural sweetness. Bramley apples are the classic choice. Still, any apples will do (especially helpful if you need to utilize some older apples from the fruit bowl).
Note: The final texture of the fruit filling will vary depending on the type of apples; some fall apart and turn more fluffy when cooked (e.g. Bramley, Gala), while others will retain their shape (e.g. Pink Lady, Granny Smith). I personally don't have a preference and go with whatever I have at home.
Raspberries are summer gems. They add an intense, almost blossom-like aroma to the crumble that reminds me of roses. The flavour of cooked raspberries seems more intensified. Even a small amount of raspberries makes a difference.
Tip: Frozen raspberries are an easy swap for fresh fruit. They are available the whole year round, and they are generally cheaper.
If you had a great raspberry harvest and you have buckets of them (my untie is the only person I know that has a field of raspberries at her allotment), make crumble without the apples; use my recipe or check this Raspberry Crumble by Veena Azmannov.
Chocolate
Chocolate is a beautiful companion to raspberries. These two ingredients give the crumble its dominant flavour.
I like to use chocolate with more than 50% of cocoa solids. Block of chocolate is often better quality than chocolate chips, but you can use either.
Note: Chocolate chips will retain shape even after baking, while chopped plain chocolate will melt into the crumble.
Hazelnuts
Hazelnuts add a nutty crunch to the topping. In my opinion, they are an excellent addition to raspberries and chocolate.
As a substitution, I recommend flaked almonds or crushed macadamia nuts.
⌛ Hands-on Time and Recipe Difficulty
The method consists of three main tasks:
- Making the crumble topping
- Preparing the fruit base
- Baking
It will take you approximately 60 - 70 minutes to make this crumble.
I place this Apple and Raspberry Crumble into an easy-to-make dessert category. All steps are simple and require minimal effort.
📷 How to Make Apple and Raspberry Crumble in Pictures
- Rub together the flour, sugar, and cubed butter in a large mixing bowl with your fingers. Stir the crushed nuts and chocolate into the crumbly topping. The final crumble mix should consist of chunks of various sizes - some slightly bigger and some fine.
Note: It's up to you when you want to add the chocolate. It can be tossed over the fruit and covered with the crumble, or you can mix the chocolate into the crumble mix at the same time with nuts (that is what I prefer).
- Place the fruit into the baking dish; toss the caster sugar evenly all over the fruit (this is when you want to add chocolate if you are not mixing it with the topping). Scatter the crumbly topping over the fruit; bake the apple raspberry crumble at 180C for around 35 minutes.
⚡ What Can Go Wrong?
- topping is too greasy/doughy - add more flour
- topping is too dry - add more butter
My favourite combination for the best crumble topping texture is when the weight of the butter makes 55 - 60% of the flour weight.
Example: For 180g of flour, use around 99 - 108g of butter and keep the sugar-to-butter ratio 1:1.
From my experience, if the butter makes less than 50% of the flour weight, the crumble is too dry and doesn't clump. On the other hand, more butter than 80% makes the topping sticky and doughy.
Note: I always use good-quality butter instead of margarine. A softer margarin makes it more difficult to control the topping texture. The only exception is making vegan crumble (see the modification below).
👪 Yield/Portions and Serving
I baked this crumble in a round stoneware dish 23cm in diameter and 6 cm tall. The size is enough to make 5 - 6 portions.
Because of the saucy fruit base, the crumble doesn't hold its shape when cut. Serving individual portions on a plate or a shallow bowl and eating it with a spoon is necessary.
To make the most of this pudding, serve it with some sort of cream like:
- whipped cream
- extra thick cream
- custard
- pouring cream
- clotted cream
- vanilla ice cream
- creme fraiche
- sour cream
Tip: Plain options or a simple flavour like vanilla are the best. It's the crumble that should be at the centre of attention, not the sauce.
🍎 Nutritional Value in my Apple and Raspberry Crumble
If you make 5 servings, each will contain approximately 675 kcal (without the added cream or ice cream).
💡 How to Modify the Recipe
Vegan
To make the recipe vegan, you need to replace dairy containing butter and chocolate. You can substitute the butter with vegan margarine; I like Vitalite dairy-free margarine.
Tip: Margarine is softer and wetter than butter, making the flour stickier (dough-like). Use only 80 - 85g of margarine for 180g of flour for the best result.
It seems easier to get a block of plain chocolate suitable for vegans than to find vegan chocolate chips in the shop. Vegan chocolate has a higher percentage of cocoa solids and a stronger taste.
Gluten-free
To make this crumble recipe gluten-free, replace the ordinary plain flour with gluten-free plain flour in a 1:1 ratio. I can recommend Dove's Farm gluten-free range.
Leftovers
It's safe to leave the crumble leftovers at room temperature overnight, but don't leave them out of the fridge for more than 48 hours.
The crumble will last for up to 5 days in a fridge and the freezer for up to 3 months.
Crumble is best eaten still warm, but a portion of leftover crumble the next day won't disappoint.
Serve the leftovers at room temperature or slightly warm.
The easiest way is to reheat the individual portions in the microwave (unfortunately, the topping loses its crunch). If you want to reheat a large piece of crumble in one go, do it in the preheated oven at 160C (That will give you a crispy topping, but the crumble filling might dry out a bit).
Apple and Raspberry Crumble with Chocolate and Hazelnuts
Ingredients
For the Crumble Topping
- 180 g plain flour
- 100 g caster sugar
- 100 g unsalted butter cut to small 1 cm cubes while cold; you can let it warm up for around 15 - 20 minutes before use
- 100 g plain chocolate chocolate chips or chopped chocolate block
- 50 g blanched hazelnuts crushed
For the Fruit Base
- 3 medium-sized apples peeled, cored, quarters of the apples cut into slices
- 250 g raspberries fresh or frozen
- 100 g caster sugar
Equipment
- oven dish round - 23cm in diameter, 6 cm tall / square - 22 x 22 x 5 cm
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (I use a fan assisted program).
Crumble Topping
- With your fingers, rub together the flour, sugar, and cubed butter in a large mixing bowl. Pressing the flour and butter together with the palm of your hand can help to incorporate the butter evenly into the mix and speed up the process. Don't worry if the ingredients stick together into bigger clumps. It's easy to break them into smaller lumps afterwards. Note 1
- Gently stir the crushed nuts and chocolate into the crumbly topping. Note 2
Fruit Base
- Place the fruit into the baking dish; toss the caster sugar evenly all over the fruit (this is the point when you add chocolate if you are not mixing it with the topping).
- Scatter the crumbly topping all over the top, covering the fruit.
- Bake the apple and raspberry crumble in the preheated oven to 180°C for around 35 - 40 minutes.
- Let the crumble cool down for 15 - 20 minutes before serving.
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