Apple Crumble with Biscoff® Spread

This delicious apple crumble has a gently spiced apple filling beneath a generous layer of sweet, crunchy crumble, with Biscoff® spread and crushed Biscoff® biscuits throughout.

Biscoff® spread and biscuits work beautifully in an apple crumble. The spicy caramel and cinnamon flavours of the Biscoff® spread and Biscoff® biscuits complement the slight tartness of cooking apples perfectly. It is a match just waiting to be discovered, and I am pleased to offer a delicious and easy recipe that happily marries these two up!

I wonder how many crumbles I have made over the years. It must be hundreds. There are so many variations, but I believe everyone has their own checklist for apple crumble perfection.

Personally, I prefer equal ratios of crumble to apple and a bit of "bite" to the apple. I like the apple to be sweet but not too sweet. A gentle sprinkle of spice is a must. My husband, however, likes loads (and I mean loads) of crumble and just a bit of apple. And that bit of apple needs to be stewed and really sweet. And he doesn't like any funny ideas going on with his crumble topping, like mixing in chopped nuts and oats. Oh no.

Anyway, I am pleased to say that this apple crumble with Biscoff® spread is a real winner in our household, so I have compromised. I added more crumble than I normally would and kept the apples sweet but not sickly sweet. There is also a hint of cinnamon and ground cloves which mellow out gently through the apple base.

Ten crushed Biscoff® biscuits are added to the crumble. These really give the crumble a lovely caramelised biscuit flavour and a crumbly texture.

caramel Biscoff® flavour but a lovely crumbly texture.

Because... while we are on the subject of what is the perfect crumble... that is something else I really insist on. It has to be light and crumbly, not compressed and solid. Many recipes insist on you pressing the crumble down. Lovely readers, I advise you not to follow that path. A gentle pat, yes, but that's all. A crumble needs to be just that.

A bit of info about this crumble recipe...

Well, for a start, I invented this recipe on a Sunday whilst consuming a couple of large glasses of gin and tonic. This invariably means my baking takes on a bolder and more adventurous turn.

Sometimes this is a good thing. Sometimes a mini disaster occurs. In this instance, yes, it was a good thing.

Why did I choose the ingredients I did?

Well:

You can't have apple crumble without cinnamon; that is just common sense;

Ground cloves are quite strong, so just a quarter of a teaspoon is the smidge that you need. They add just a hint of lovely warmth and depth.

Soft brown sugar is a must; I adore brown sugars and will always use them where I can instead of white sugar. Nutritionally, there is nothing in it. But flavour-wise, those retained molasses is a bonus, and I love their nutty flavour. The darker the sugar, the more the molasses. That can only be a good thing. (Have a go at my Sticky toffee and ginger pudding if you want a real dark brown sugar and treacle treat). I use soft brown sugar mixed in with the apples because the flavours work so well. However, in the crumble I mostly use golden caster sugar. This gives the right level of sweetness and ensures the crumble has a lovely golden sandy colour and texture.

Cooking apples (Bramley apples): you can use "normal" apples if you like. If you do, I suggest cutting the sugar down to 2 tbsp, as they are much sweeter than cooking apples. I like the good old Bramley myself. It holds its head high as the best choice for cooking. It has a higher acid content and lower sugar. As such, when cooked, it retains its flavour and structure really well. No mushy apple mess with this guy.

A few things to bear in mind ...

Preheat your baking tray: this ensures that the apples start cooking from the base up as soon as you place the apple crumble into the oven.

Preparing your apples: apples turn brown almost as soon as the air hits them (oxidation). I have something of an OCD about preventing this. Not that it really matters; they taste fine even if a bit browned. To my mind, though, they just don't look as pretty. So this is why I prepare the crumble first and apples last. You can prevent most of the oxidation process by placing the apples in water and lemon juice, which is what we do in this recipe. However, the ones on the top still turn a little brown, so not perfect. There's my OCD again.

Grate your cold butter: this works really well when you need to keep your butter cold, such as in pastry. It will mix into your flour in just a few pulses of the food processor.

Crush your Biscoff® biscuits: to do this, pop the biscuits into a sandwich bag, seal, and smash with a rolling pin. Don't over-smash, though; it is nice for the crumble texture to have a few larger pieces of Biscoff® biscuits scattered throughout.

How to know when your apple crumble is baked: insert a skewer right down and into the apple layers. There should be just a bit of resistance.

How to make apple crumble with Biscoff® spread and biscuits

So, as I always say, prepare your ingredients first. Heat your oven and butter your pie dish (see recipe card).

Add your salt to your flour and sift both into your food processor bowl. Add your grated butter, sprinkling it evenly over the top of the flour. Pulse a few times to mix together. Do not overmix, or you will have pastry.

Add in your sugars and crushed Biscoff® biscuits and pulse just until combined. Your mixture will be sand-like in colour and texture. Pop into the fridge to keep chilled until your apples are ready.

To prepare your apples, first pop half the juice of a lemon into a large bowl and add about 2 litres of cold water.

Peel and core one apple at a time. Slice the apple into 1cm slices. Submerge them in your lemony water. Once all of your apples are ready, drain them and dry them. I dry them by tipping them onto a clean tea towel and then rubbing them dry with another. Dry the bowl and pop the apple slices back in. Add your Biscoff® spread, cornflour, sugar and spices and give everything a good mix up. I use two large wooden spoons to toss the apples around like a salad to ensure they are all coated.

Once totally coated, place the apple slices, one by one, into your buttered dish. Try to ensure that all of the base of the dish is covered as much as possible. Build up the layers as evenly as you can, making sure to fill in all the gaps as much as possible.

Tip your crumble mixture over the apples and spread it out evenly. Give the crumble a gentle pat and then sprinkle over your demerara sugar if using.

Bake for about 40 minutes until golden, and your apple has a slight resistance when pierced with a skewer.

Serve with my Proper English vanilla custard or some lovely vanilla ice cream.

Other delicious desserts on my blog (imho) are Citrus jam roly poly spotted dick pudding and Sticky toffee and ginger pudding.

📖 Recipe

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