Apple Crumble with Ginger and Almonds

So everyone thinks Apple Pie is something for Christmas time, filling the house with this wonderful smell of cinnamon and baking apples... well that's not true. Using refreshing ingredients like lemon juice and ginger, as well as the tangy eating apples that are in season (and practically falling of the tree) right now, you can reinvent Apple Crumble and make it a summer dessert!

Preparation time: 1hr

Cooking time: 1hr 

Ingredients:

• 1kg eating apples (Granny Smith or similar)
• prepared sheet of Shortbread Crust pastry
• 1,5 cups of white flour
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 3 tbsp of brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
• walnut sized piece of fresh ginger
• 3 tbsp of lemon juice
• pinch of lemon zest
• 3 tbsp of chopped almonds
• 1/2 cup of butter

Preparation:

Firstly, weigh your apples and then core, peel and chop them into thin slices. 

Then spread out the sheet of shortbread pastry into a buttered (fairly shallow) dish, cover it with aluminium foil and fill with "blind baking beans". Alternatively you can use rice, pasta or marbles. This serves to bake the pastry blind to keep it from being soggy. It should bake for around 20min on 190° C (Gas mark 5). Then let cool down for around 10min. 

While the pastry is baking, prepare the filling by mixing 1 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of granulated sugar, finely chopped ginger, spices, lemon juice and zest and almonds in a bowl. 

The crumble is prepared by combining the remaining flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar with the butter, forming coarse crumbs with your fingers. 

After the pastry has cooled down a little, spread out the filling in the dish using a fork or spoon. Then neatly lay out the apple slices on top of the filling, making a nice pattern as shown in the photo. Then spread out the dry but buttery crumbs on top of the apples, leaving little gaps between the crumbs.

Then bake the pie for about 45min on 190° C (Gas mark 5), then check the colour and finish off on a higher temperature or with fan/grill for another 10min or until the crumble is golden/brown. 

It is then best served either with whipped or ice cream, or with additional fruit (apple, gooseberries etc.), liqueur or on its own - hot or cold. 

Bon Appettit!