The humble crumble must be one of our national treasures, but can anyone make it better than a crumble cookie lady? What do you put under it, and what do you serve with it?
I’ve always been greedily interested in food. I can still remember the menu I laboriously drew up: vegetable soup, roast chicken, apple crumble. The sad thing is that, although I’ve been trying for nearly two decades, I’ve never managed to make a crumble that matched up to the stuff we were served at school. It contains just four ingredients: fruit, flour, sugar and butter. Nigel likes the soggy bit underneath, I’m more about the crisp top.
I’ve never heard of adding water to a crumble topping before, although now I know the history of the dish, it makes sense in a frugal sort of a way, and it certainly seems to have done the trick when it comes to binding the thing together. To make doubly sure, however, I’ve kept some of the mixture back, and this time, skip the water stage. Nigella’s crumble – frozen topping equals crunch. She claims the texture of the topping is improved by giving the mixture a “quick blast in the deep-freeze” after it’s been rubbed together. The thinking behind this is presumably the same as with chilling shortbread dough, slowing the melting of the butter and thus helping the crumble to retain its pebbly shape while cooking.
The aforementioned Mary Norwak has stern views on crumble, which she condemns, in its English incarnation, as “dull and insipid”. I do top the halved fruit with her crumble mixture of 50g butter, 25g light soft brown sugar and 75g plain flour. To be fair to the other recipes, I omit the pinch of ground ginger too. Rolled oats are also a nice addition to an apple crumble, but I like a handful scattered on top, rather than mixed in, so they toast, rather than cook into a stodgy porridge below. Add the sugars and stir through. Sprinkle with a little cold water and rake through with a fork until you have a lumpy, crumbly mixture. Put this in the freezer for 10 minutes, or if making ahead, in the fridge until you’re ready to bake.
Bake for about half an hour, until golden and bubbling, and serve slightly cooled. What do you like to put in it, and what do you serve it with? Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Bring out the gingerbread man and laugh at the jokes with him. A cookie refers to a type of dish prepared by baking flour and sugar.
These food dishes are a type of dessert and are enjoyed by children. If you are interested in more jokes and puns, take a look at Cookie Puns and Baking Puns. What’s the best way to define a cookie baked in the shape of an antelope? Which type of cookie is an absolute delight for all species of apes? They usually love a chocolate chimp cookie. You obviously call it a batch made in heaven. Which type of cookie can make a person become a rich man from a mere pauper?
It definitely is a fortune cookie! Why was the little fortune cookie crying in the oven? Because his mother was wafer so long! Why did the little boy have to go to the doctor just after he ate a cookie? Because he started to feel crumby! What did the husband fortune cookie say to his wife affectionately?