Start the festive season with this boozy Christmas crumble with apples and cranberries. It's a perfect no-fuss, no-stress quick and easy merry dessert.
⏳ 65 Minutes
👪 6 Servings
🍎 589 kcal/serving
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❤️ Why I Like This Dessert
- simple to make
- takes around an hour from start to finish
- easily altered to be vegan and gluten-free
- great for kids to help with the preparation (maybe you want to skip the booze if the kiddies will eat it too)
🍰 What is This Christmas Apple Crumble Like?
Christmas is all about indulgent foods, naughty desserts and good drinks. This apple and cranberry crumble ticks all three of those boxes.
Sweet apples and tart cranberries make a perfectly balanced filling. The rum and cinnamon give this dessert a bit more festive kick. There is just enough tartness from cranberries before the sweetness and booze take over.
The textures are spot on, with the crunchy topping complimenting the soft fruit filling.
📃 Recipe Ingredient Overview and Easy Substitutions
Here are the recipe ingredients and the exact products I've used to make this crumble:
For the Filling
- medium-sized gala apples
- fresh cranberries
- caster sugar; Silver Spoon Caster Sugar
- ground cinnamon; Schwartz Ground Cinnamon
- spiced rum; Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
For the Crumble Topping
- plain flour; Matthews Flour Organic Plain Fine Flour
- caster sugar; Silver Spoon Caster Sugar
- butter; Lurpak Unsalted Block Butter
- fine porridge oats; Tesco Scottish Oats Porridge
- flaked almonds; Tesco Flaked Almonds
Fruit
Cranberries
Christmas is an excellent time to buy fresh cranberries in the supermarkets. They are available from November to December in the UK.
Tip: If you can't get fresh berries try frozen cranberries instead, some supermarkets stock them all year round.
Apples
Apples play an essential part as they add volume to the filling and balance the sharp taste of cranberries by adding more natural sweetness.
My favourite apples for this crumble are Gala apples. I like that they get a bit mushy but, at the same time, retain some texture.
For any crumble, I prefer an apple variety that gets soft (Empire, Bramley) rather than firm apples (Granny Smith, Pink Lady).
Here is a helpful article about Choosing the Right Apples for Apple Pies and Other Recipes from Almanac.com.
Spiced Rum
I highly recommend spiced rum with warm flavours like vanilla, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
Czech rum is another excellent option, as it's flavoured with caramel and vanilla essence.
Golden rum or brandy with a small amount of vanilla extract makes a suitable substitution.
Tip: You can alter how much alcohol goes into the recipe. If you want to give the crumble a super boozy kick, add more than the recipe asks.
Are you cooking for kids? Omit the alcohol altogether.
Oats
Oats and almonds add texture and crunch.
I like fine ground oats, but you can use larger rolled oats. They will be more noticeable in the crumble topping.
Tip: Crumble is an excellent dessert to experiment with different types of fruits for the filling and other add-ons like nuts, oats or even crushed biscuits mixed into the topping.
Get inspired by our Raspberry crumble with chocolate and Gluten-free rhubarb crumble or make your signature combination.
⌛ Hands-on Time and Equipment
It takes around an hour to make the recipe. The method consists of the following steps:
- preparing the fruit filling (15 minutes)
- making the crumble topping (10 - 15 minutes)
- baking (35 - 40 minutes)
You will need the following:
- oven-proof dish (approx 30 x 21 cm) - glass, ceramic or metal
- mixing bowl
📷 How to Make Christmas Crumble in Pictures
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan. Coat the bottom of the baking dish with butter.
- Place the apples and cranberries into the baking dish, and toss the caster sugar and cinnamon over the fruit. Pour in the rum.
- For the topping, mix flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Rub the cubed butter and the dry ingredients with your fingers until the mix consists of lumps and clumps of various sizes.
- Stir the oats and almonds into the crumbly mixture.
- Scatter the crumble topping over the fruit, covering the whole surface.
- Bake at 200C/ 180C fan for 35 - 40 minutes.
Let the crumble cool down for 15 - 20 minutes before serving.
💡 How to Alter the Recipe
One of my favourite things about this recipe is how versatile it is. You can replace cranberries for different fruits and almonds for any other nuts or coconut.
Moreover, this recipe can also be altered to be vegan or gluten-free.
Vegan
To adjust this crumble, you need to replace butter with plant-based margarine.
I recommend Vitalite dairy-free spread. For the best result, replace 110g of butter in the recipe with 90g of Vitalite margarine.
Note: Use less margarine as it's softer than butter, and it can make the topping too sticky. If it happens, add a little bit more flour.
Gluten-free
To make this recipe gluten-free, replace the plain flour with a gluten-free option and consider not using oats.
I like Doves farm gluten-free bread flour.
Note: While oats are in many countries considered gluten-free and tolerated by most people with gluten intolerance, they can still be contaminated - during harvest, transport or in the factory.
🍽️ How to Serve my Christmas Apple Crumble
Serve the dessert in bowls with a spoon, especially if you accompany it with custard, cream (whipped or poured) or ice cream.
Crumble always look a bit rustic. Imagine warm juicy fruit filling with clumps of golden crunchy crumble randomly scattered over the top and melting whipped cream or ice cream on the side. Delicious.
❄️ How to Store and Reheat
Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 - 4 days, or freeze them.
Crumble is safe to freeze for up to 3 months. It will keep longer in the freezer; however, the taste might be affected.
It's best to reheat the crumble in the oven, but you can quickly warm it up in the microwave if you don't mind a soggy topping.
Recipe Card
Christmas Apple Crumble with Cranberries
Ingredients
For the Filling
- 4 medium-sized gala apples peeled, cored, quartered, then cut into slices
- 300 g cranberries fresh or frozen
- 150 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon levelled
- 70 - 90 ml spiced rum optional
For the Crumble Topping
- 160 g plain flour
- 110 g caster sugar
- 110 g butter cold, cut into small 1 cm cubes
- 40 g porridge oats
- 40 g flaked almonds
Equipment
- oven-proof dish approx 30 x 21 cm glass, ceramic or metal
- mixing bowl
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan.
- Place the apples and cranberries into the baking dish, and toss the caster sugar and cinnamon evenly over the fruit. Pour in the rum (Not a fan of alcohol or cooking for kids - don't use any).
- For the topping, mix flour and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the cubed butter into the bowl and rub the butter and the dry ingredients between your fingers until the mix consists of lumps and clumps of various sizes.
- Stir the oats and almonds into the crumbly mixture.
- Scatter the topping over the fruit, covering the whole surface with smaller and bigger clumps.
- Bake at 200C/ 180C fan for 35 - 40 minutes.
- Let the crumble cool down for 15 - 20 minutes before serving.
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