Apple and orange crumble tart

Name: Apple and orange crumble tart
Cook time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 2 medium oranges; 6 medium dessert apples, such as granny smith

Dan Lepard

June 3, 2014

Using orange rather than lemon juice helps the apple assert itself in a crumble.William Meppem

Time:1-2 hoursServes:6

Oranges suit apples surprisingly well. The ascorbic acid in the fruit fixes the apple's colour, and the juice adds a golden hue. Ditch the sugar when cooking apples with orange juice and the apples' subtle acidity remains intact, reminiscent of a simple baked apple, with a beautiful colour as a bonus.

Ingredients

2 medium oranges
6 medium dessert apples, such as granny smith

CRUMBLE BASE

75g castor sugar
75g unsalted butter, softened
1 egg yolk
100g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

CRUMBLE TOPPING

50g castor sugar
50g unsalted butter, softened
75g plain flour
50g pinenuts, lightly toasted
Icing sugar to finish

Method

1. Grease an 18cm round springform or removable-base cake tin, and line the sides with non-stick paper. Zest the oranges and reserve for later.
2. Juice the oranges into a saucepan, then peel two of the apples, coarsely grate (discard the core) into a saucepan then stir through the juice.
3. Peel, core and dice the remaining apples and add to the saucepan. Stir well then cook with a lid on until they start to soften, then cook a few minutes more with the lid off to dry the mixture slightly, then leave to cool.
4. Make the base by beating the sugar, half the reserved zest, butter and yolk until smooth and light. Stir in the flour and baking powder then spread this evenly in the base of the prepared tin.
5. Spoon the apple mixture over the base then make the crumble top. Rub the sugar, butter, remaining zest and flour gently until it just starts to turn crumbly. Then stir in the pinenuts and sprinkle this over the apple.
6. Bake at 200C/180C fan-forced for about 50 minutes, or until the top is golden. Leave to cool in the tin then remove carefully. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Note: The centre of the base can be soft if cooked at too low a temperature. We recommend cooking at 200C fan, as we achieved a crisp base, and it's quite nice how the apples caramelise on the side.