Toffee, Apple and Almond Crumble

If there is one thing I love about weekends, it’s the opportunity to entertain friends or family at our home. This weekend we had my lovely mother in law over on Sunday for the day, she arrived just after 1pm, which gave me plenty of time for preparations. I got up early and prepared a chicken and mushroom bake in the slow cooker and then got started on what I can only describe as the most divine crumble ever! I had come across this recipe ages ago in my copy of Rachel Allen’s Favourite Food at Home but I’d never got round to making it, that is until Beth at Jam and Clotted Cream blogged about it recently and I was sold! The combination of toffee, apples and almond in this crumble transforms this favourite comfort pudding into something really special. This crumble was served with vanilla ice cream and extra toffee sauce and was a big hit all round! I loved this so much I did a Nigella and helped myself to seconds later on in the evening to eat while watching Lost, pure bliss!

Toffee, Apple and Almond Crumble

Ingredients:

Toffee Sauce:

125g Golden Syrup

125g Light Brown Sugar

50g Butter

100ml Single Cream

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Crumble:

175g Self Raising Flour

Zest 1 Lemon

85g Butter, cubed

85g Light Brown Sugar

50g Ground Almonds

Filling:

6 Eating Apples, cored, peeled, quartered and cut into 2cm/¾in chunks

25g Butter

Method:

Preheat the oven 180oC/350oF/Gas Mark 4. Put all ingredients for the toffee sauce into saucepan over a medium heat and boil for 3 minutes, stirring until smooth. Set aside. Make the crumble topping by placing flour and lemon zest in a bowl and rub in butter, leaving it a little rough and uneven. Stir in the sugar and ground almonds to the crumble and place in the fridge until you are ready to use it. To make the filling, melt the butter in a saucepan or frying pan, add the chopped apples and toss on the heat for a few minutes until the apples start to soften. Add 125ml of the toffee sauce (about half; keep the rest for serving) and continue to simmer for a few minutes longer until the apples are just cooked. Pour the apple mixture in a pie dish and sprinkle over crumble and bake in the preheated oven for 20-40 minutes or until the crumble is light golden and with toffee sauce juices bubbling up the sides. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and a jug of the remaining warm toffee sauce!