Blueberry Crumble (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to crunchy crumble? ›

A pastry chef friend shared the technique. Instead of sprinkling the raw crumbs on top of the fruit, where they absorb the juices and turn a little mushy on their undersides, he spread them out in a pan and baked them separately, until crisp and cookielike.

If you use more butter than the recipe calls for, the crumb topping will be melted and greasy. If you don't use enough butter it will be dry and floury.

The main reason your crumble topping isn't crunchy is probably because you haven't used Demerara sugar. Although, it could also be that you've got your topping ingredient quantities wrong: either too much or not enough flour and butter alongside the sugar.

Make filling: Combine blueberries, brown sugar, and lemon zest in a large bowl. Pour filling into the prepared baking dish. Make topping: Combine brown sugar, flour, oats, butter, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; rub mixture between your fingers until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over blueberries.

Making Crumble Topping

First, adding a teaspoon of baking powder to the flour mixture makes the crumble topping more tender.

I lay my topping out on a baking tray and toast it in a fairly hot oven. Then put it on the crumble fruit at the last moment and straight back in the oven. That way it doesn't get soggy.

Don't rub the butter into the flour too thoroughly. Rather than looking like fine breadcrumbs you want the top of the apple crumble recipe to look a bit lumpy. Also, make sure your butter is cold. If you feel the butter may have warmed up a bit too much, pop the crumble mixture into the fridge for a while.

A well-made crumb should be firm yet tender, and chewy, with big chunks—like granola. The best way to achieve this is to use cold cubed butter. Using room-temperature or melted butter will cause the topping to spread out and flatten when it bakes, rather than standing pert and perky.

Cover the pan with foil, and bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 25 to 30 minutes, until the crumble is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Leave to stand for 5-10 minutes, then serve warm with custard or ice cream.

For the crunchiest topping we recommend baking it separately. Why does my crumble topping look like dough? This is usually down to the butter being too warm when mixed together.

Why does my crumble topping go hard after? ›

The most common cause of hard crumble is using the wrong amount of butter. So, be sure to measure carefully! If you don't use enough, your crumble will be too hard. However, to fix it, just add melted butter one spoonful at a time over the mixture until it is a little moister and crumbles with ease.

Go too hot and the crumble topping with get too dark before the fruit is ready. You'll be left with too-hard fruit and a burnt topping, which will make both you and us sad. If the top could use a little extra browning, jack the temperature or broil it after it's fully baked. Just keep a vigilant watch!

Cobbler: A fruit dessert made with a top crust of pie dough or biscuit dough but no bottom crust. Crisp/crumble: In Alberta, the terms are mostly interchangeable. Both refer to fruit desserts similar to cobbler but made with a brown sugar streusel topping sometimes containing old-fashioned rolled oats.

Apple crisp

'Crisp' is the American version of a crumble, with the topping a mix between a nutty flapjack and a traditional British crumble.

Just pop the baking dish back into a 350 degree oven until it's hot and bubbly. Expect it to take 10 to 20 minutes depending on how much crumble you're reheating.

Butter, which encourages both browning and crispness, is the magic ingredient in getting your topping just right, so follow the recipe instructions. But if you feel your topping is still too dry and crumbly, (even for a crumble) add a bit more melted butter, a tablespoon at a time.

Most crisps and crumbles (two names for essentially the same thing) are squishy and jammy, with a luscious fruity cushion beneath a shaggy brown-sugar blanket that might contain a few nuts, with or without oats, as a vague attempt at crunch.

Crisps are essentially crumbles with the addition of oats and optional nuts, which causes the topping to “crisp” in the oven. Due to the higher ratio of oats to flour, crisps are often enjoyed for breakfast and are just as tasty eaten cold from the fridge as they are warmed up in the oven.