Crumble is traditionally made with a stewed apple filling and sweet, buttery topping, though it lends itself to endless variations.
Adding other fruits to the apple mixture or things like oats to the topping are popular alternatives, or crumble can even be made with things like mince pies.
Sharing the recipe on her food blog My Primrose Hill Kitchen, cooking lover Anna claimed that her crumble is: “A really delicious way to use up the Christmas mince pie mountain over the festive period, even the stale ones.”
She continued: “This is my invention and it pimps up the mince pie, turning it from a Skoda into a Ferrari.
“The tartness of the apple counterbalances the sweetness of the mince pies, which caramelise on top of the apples and it works as they are a marriage made in heaven.”
Ingredients:
- 700g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
- 25g soft brown sugar
- Zest of an orange and two tablespoons of its juice
- Two teaspoons of mixed spice
Crumble topping
- Several mince pies or more
- 75g butter
- 175g plain flour
- 50g soft brown sugar
Depending on the preferred ratio of filling to topping, it is possible to double up the ingredients and add another 15 minutes to the baking time, according to Anna.
Apple crumble with mince pies recipe
Start with a preheated oven set to 170C, then place the chopped apples in a large baking dish.
Follow with the orange zest, brown sugar, mixed spice and orange juice, then crumble the leftover mince pies over the top of everything.
Move onto the crumble topping by placing all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender, and whizz it all up until it resembles the consistency of fine breadcrumbs.
Tip the crumble topping evenly over the crumbled mince pies and apple mixture, then check everything is in two neat layers.
Bake the whole dish for about 60 minutes or until the apples are soft and the top is darkish golden.
Anna said: “Test with a knife in the centre to make sure the apples are cooked. I tend to put tin foil over the top halfway through to stop it getting too brown.”
Once cooked through, serve hot with cream, custard, or vanilla ice cream, or, once cooled, freeze it to serve at a later date.
