You can't beat a super comforting crumble on a cold day, and this Apple and Pear Crumble is the perfect fruit combination. Soft and sweet fruit topped with a buttery crumble. Either smother it in custard or top with ice cream for an indulgent dessert.
Everyone has their own opinion when it comes to the perfect crumble. Just one fruit, a mix of fruit, the crumble to fruit ratio. Then there is debate on whether the crumble should have oats in it, if you should precook the fruit and whether to include spices like cinnamon and ginger.
This crumble is really simple to make, and makes use of deliciously sweet apples and pear when they are in season. A great dish to make to feed a crowd and easy to adapt too.
Looking for other ways to use apples? Why not try our Cinnamon Baked Apples, Apple Hand Pies, Apple Cinnamon Pancakes, or Apple Pie Smoothie.
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Why should you try it?
- A great way to use pears - If you aren't really sure what to do with pears, or if you have received loads in a fruit and vegetable box that need using up, then this is a great recipe to try. It is more apple heavy, but the pear adds a wonderful flavour to it.
- Super comforting dessert - I am not sure there is anything more comforting than soft sugary fruit topped with a buttery crumble.
- Easy to make - This is so simple! There is no need to cook the fruit first, just mix everything together, layer the fruit and crumble and put it in the oven. Great for getting kids involved in the kitchen.
- Budget friendly - Desserts don't have to be expensive to make, or use fancy ingredients. This is best made when apples and pears are in season, to make it as cheap as possible. Plus, in season they have the best flavour.
- Good for feeding a crowd - You can easily double this to make it for a lot of people. Just make sure you have a dish big enough.
Step by step
One: Put the chopped apples and pear in a baking dish and add the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well.
Two: Put the crumble ingredients in to a bowl and using your fingers, crumble the butter and mix it together. This process will take a while, as you want to get the butter really fine and all mixed in.
Three: Cover the fruit with the crumble mixture.
Four: Put in a preheated oven at 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 for 40 minutes until the topping is golden brown.
Health benefits
This dessert is never going to be the healthiest, because of the sugar and butter. But, everything in moderation, right? However, there are lots of health benefits of apples and pears.
They are a good source of fibre, potassium and vitamin C and K. Apples have also been linked to a lower risk of heart disease. One reason for this may be that apples contain soluble fibre, and this can help lower your blood cholesterol levels.
Apples also contain polyphenols, which have antioxidant effects. However, many of these are in the peel, so if you peel the apples they they won't have the same benefits.
Pear are a good source of important minerals like copper and potassium. Copper plays a role in immunity, cholesterol metabolism, and nerve function, whereas potassium aids muscle contractions and heart function.
Variations
We wanted to make crumble a traditional dessert in our own little family and this is a great way to get kids to try different fruits. You could keep this as just pears or even add some plums. Have you tried our Apple and Plum Crumble? The pears really do have so much flavour just on their on though with a few apples.
You could add some berries to this for some extra colour and flavour. Blackberries work really well with the apple. The secret to making a really good pear crumble is choosing good pears. They need to be in season and ripe. That's why this recipe is so simple, because when you use ripe pears, that flavour is really all you need.
We also love adding some dried fruit in to the apple and pear mixture. Raisins, dried cranberries and dried cherries all work well.
Crumble topping
The perfect crumble topping really is something that everyone should know how to make. It should be buttery, crispy, and of course crumbly. It's in the name. Whilst you can buy crumble topping in a bag to save some time, it really doesn't take much time at all. If you bake a lot, then you probably already have these ingredients in your cupboard too.
This is a good recipe for kids to get involved with, as they will love getting their hands in the bowl and mixing up the crumble.
This crumble topping is a mix of flour, butter and sugar You could swap a quarter of the flour for rolled oats, to make it more of a crisp. This recipe makes a fair amount of crumble topping, but we are firm believers that the fruit to crumble ratio should pretty much 50:50.
You could also double the amount of crumble topping and then keep it in the fridge for up to a week to use in other fruit crumbles.
What to serve with apple and pear crumble
Now it comes down to a debate that will turn your dinner table lively - what do you serve this Apple and Pear Crumble with? Ice cream or custard? We went with custard, but a good quality vanilla ice cream is another perfect side to a comforting crumble.
Why not try some vanilla frozen yogurt for a bit more of an indulgent dessert?
Looking for a nice hot drink to serve with this apple and pear crumble? Why not try a Vegan Eggnog, Chai Tea Latte, Cinnamon Coffee or Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate?
FAQs
You can use any type of pear you like, or have available, to make this dessert. However it is important that the pear is nice and ripe, as it will give the crumble plenty of flavour, but still firm so they can be sliced. The pear should have a bit of give when squeezed.
If your pears aren't quite ripe yet, then you can speed up the ripening process by putting them in a brown paper bag with a ripe banana or apple at room temperature and it should ripen in a couple of days.
We hardly ever have any leftovers of this, as we can happily eat double portions! But if you do, it will keep in the fridge for two to three days.
You could freeze it in containers, but the topping might go a little soggy once defrosted.
If you use gluten free flour, and make sure there is no cross contamination, then is can be a gluten free crumble.
To make this vegan, you would need to swap the butter for a plant based version that bakes well. It will need to be one with a high fat content, as that will be the most similar to dairy butter. Make sure that the custard/ice cream you are serving it with is vegan too and you have checked all the other ingredients are labelled suitable for vegans too.
No, there is no need to cook the fruit fruit. Just mix it with the sugar and cinnamon and put it in the tin ready for the crumble toppings. The sugar will start to soften the fruit by drawing all the moisture out - this is a process called maceration.
No, this isn't keto friendly and it is quite high in carbohydrates.
This isn't the lightest dessert, due to all the sugar. However, you could lighten it up a little by using half the sugar and serving smaller portions.
To make sure the topping is still nice and crunchy, you will need to reheat it in the oven. It will only take about 15 minutes.
Extra tips
- If you don't have brown sugar, you could just use caster sugar. However you wouldn't get the same caramelisation.
- Add a little vanilla extract for a real depth of flavour.
- You could also double the amount of crumble topping and then keep it in the fridge for up to a week to use in other fruit crumbles.
- If you want to make more of a crisp, then you could swap a quarter of the flour for oats.
- You can use this recipe to make an apple, rhubarb or peach crumble too.
- You can freeze leftovers, however the topping tends to go a little soggy once it is defrosted. It will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days though.
- This is a good recipe for kids to get involved with, as they will love getting their hands in the bowl and mixing up the crumble.
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Recipe
Apple and Pear Crumble
Ingredients
Filling
- 3 apples diced
- 3 pears diced
- 0.5 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoon light brown sugar
Crumble
- 250 g plain flour
- 120 g caster sugar
- 150 g butter cubed
Instructions
- Put the chopped apples and pear in a baking dish and add the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix well.3 apples, 3 pears, 3 tablespoon light brown sugar, 0.5 teaspoon cinnamon
- Put the crumble ingredients in to a bowl and using your fingers, crumble the butter and mix it together. This process will take a while, as you want to get the butter really fine and all mixed in.250 g plain flour, 120 g caster sugar, 150 g butter
- Cover the fruit with the crumble mixture.
- Put in a preheated oven at 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 for 40 minutes until the topping is golden brown.
Notes
- You could also double the amount of crumble topping and then keep it in the fridge for up to a week to use in other fruit crumbles.
- If you want to make more of a crisp, then you could swap a quarter of the flour for oats.
- You can use this recipe to make an apple, rhubarb or peach crumble too.
- You can freeze leftovers, however the topping tends to go a little soggy once it is defrosted. It will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days though.
- This is a good recipe for kids to get involved with, as they will love getting their hands in the bowl and mixing up the crumble.
Oya Sortino
It is in the oven now..smelling great. We will see if it is as delicious as it sounds. My only criticism (if you can call it that) is you don't mention anything about the size of the baking dish...Thanks!
Carla
Made this and it was so scrumptious, I immediately made it again!
Dannii
So glad that you enjoyed it. I might make some tomorrow too.