Anna Louise Apple crumble is Britain’s most loved pudding. Not the most glamorous, not the most impressive, but the most consistently, deeply satisfying.
A soft, gently spiced apple filling beneath a golden, buttery, slightly crunchy crumble topping — served warm with cold custard, ice cream, or clotted cream — it is the pudding that makes everything feel better.
Mary Berry’s apple crumble recipe gets every element right. The apples are cooked with just enough sugar and cinnamon to enhance rather than overwhelm their natural flavour.
The crumble topping uses rolled oats alongside the flour, which gives extra texture and a slightly nutty quality that elevates it above a plain flour crumble.
The ratio of topping to fruit is exactly right — generous enough to give you a proper crumble in every spoonful, not so thick that it overwhelms the apple beneath.
This is the pudding I make more than any other in autumn and winter. It takes 20 minutes to prepare and fills the kitchen with a smell that makes everyone happy.
What Makes This Crumble Different
Rolled oats in the topping. Most basic crumble recipes use only flour, butter, and sugar. Adding rolled oats gives the topping a more interesting texture — slightly chewy in places, crisp in others — and a subtle nuttiness that plain flour cannot provide. It is the difference between an adequate crumble and an exceptional one.
Bramley apples. Bramley cooking apples break down during baking to produce that characteristic soft, slightly tart, fluffy apple filling that is uniquely wonderful in a crumble. Eating apples remain too firm and too sweet. Always use Bramleys.
Cold butter rubbed in by hand. The butter must be cold and rubbed in quickly to produce the rough, uneven texture that gives a crumble its characteristic craggy surface. Melted butter gives a flat, sandy topping rather than a proper crumble.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Apple Crumble
For the Apple Filling
- 1kg Bramley apples (about 4 large apples), peeled, cored, and sliced
- 75g caster sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tbsp water
For the Crumble Topping
- 200g plain flour, sifted
- 100g rolled oats
- 150g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- 100g soft light brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch of fine salt
How to Make Mary Berry Apple Crumble — Step by Step
Step 1 — Preheat and Prepare
Preheat your oven to 190°C / 170°C fan / Gas 5. Lightly butter a deep ovenproof dish — approximately 28x20cm or a similar 2 litre capacity dish.
Step 2 — Prepare the Apple Filling
Place the sliced apples in the prepared dish. Scatter over the caster sugar, cinnamon, and mixed spice. Add the lemon juice and water. Toss gently to coat all the apple slices evenly.
Spread the apple mixture evenly across the base of the dish — you want roughly even depth throughout so the apple cooks uniformly.
Step 3 — Make the Crumble Topping
Place the flour, rolled oats, cold cubed butter, soft light brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour and oats quickly — lifting the mixture and letting it fall. Work until the mixture resembles rough, uneven breadcrumbs with some pea-sized and even larger pieces of butter still visible. These larger pieces are what create the characteristic craggy, textured crumble surface.
Do not overwork — stop as soon as it looks like rough crumble. Overworked topping becomes sandy and loses its texture during baking.
Step 4 — Assemble and Bake
Scatter the crumble topping evenly over the apple filling. Do not press it down — leave it loose and uneven. This loose texture allows steam to escape from the apple below and gives you a crisper, more varied crumble surface.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the topping is deep golden brown and the apple filling is bubbling around the edges. The bubbling apple is your signal that the filling is properly cooked through.
Step 5 — Rest and Serve
Leave the crumble to rest for five minutes before serving — the filling is very hot and benefits from a brief rest. Serve in generous spoonfuls with custard, vanilla ice cream, or clotted cream.
My Top Tips For Mary Berry Apple Crumble
Always use Bramley apples. They break down during baking to produce that characteristic soft, slightly tart, fluffy filling that makes apple crumble what it is. Eating apples stay too firm and too sweet. If you only have eating apples, reduce the sugar by half and accept a slightly different result.
Keep the butter cold. Cold butter rubbed into flour gives you a rough, textured crumble with large and small pieces that bake to a varied, craggy surface. Warm butter produces a sandy, uniform topping that lacks texture. If your kitchen is warm, refrigerate the rubbed-in topping for 15 minutes before scattering over the apple.
Do not press the topping down. A loosely scattered topping bakes crisper and more evenly than a pressed-down one. Leave it rough and uneven.
Add lemon juice to the apples. The lemon juice prevents the apple from discolouring and adds a subtle brightness that balances the sweetness of the sugar and the richness of the crumble.
The apples do not need pre-cooking. Raw apple slices placed in the dish and covered with topping will cook through perfectly in 35 to 40 minutes. Pre-cooking is an extra step this recipe does not need.
Rest before serving. Five minutes out of the oven allows the apple filling to settle slightly — making serving neater and preventing burns from the very hot fruit.
Serving Suggestions
With warm custard poured generously over the top — this is the classic combination and it is perfect. With cold vanilla ice cream — the contrast of warm crumble and cold melting ice cream is one of the great dessert experiences. With clotted cream for something more indulgent. With cold pouring cream for something lighter.
How to Store Mary Berry Apple Crumble
In the fridge: Cover and store for up to 3 days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave for 2 to 3 minutes, or cover the whole dish with foil and reheat in a 160°C oven for 20 minutes.
In the freezer: Freeze before or after baking for up to 3 months. If freezing unbaked, assemble completely and freeze — bake from frozen at 190°C for 50 to 60 minutes. If freezing baked, cool completely before freezing. Defrost overnight and reheat as above.
Mary Berry Apple Crumble Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat oven to 190°C / 170°C fan / Gas 5. Lightly butter a deep 28x20cm ovenproof dish.
- Place sliced apples in the dish. Add sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice, lemon juice, and water. Toss to coat. Spread evenly.
- Place flour, oats, cold butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Rub butter in quickly with fingertips until rough, uneven crumble with pea-sized and larger pieces remaining. Do not overwork.
- Scatter crumble loosely over apple filling — do not press down.
- Bake 35–40 minutes until topping is deep golden and apple is bubbling at the edges.
- Rest 5 minutes. Serve with custard, ice cream, or clotted cream.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use eating apples instead of Bramley?
Yes, but the result is different — eating apples hold their shape rather than breaking down to that characteristic fluffy filling. They are also sweeter, so reduce the sugar in the filling to 50g. Cox, Braeburn, or Granny Smith all work reasonably well.
Can I add other fruits to the apple filling?
Yes — blackberries are the most classic addition and are wonderful. Add 150g to 200g of fresh or frozen blackberries to the apple. Other good combinations: apple and pear, apple and raspberry, apple and plum.
Can I make the crumble topping without oats?
Yes — use 300g plain flour instead of flour and oats. The result is a finer, more uniform topping without the texture that oats provide. Both are good — the oat version is more interesting.
Can I make the crumble topping in advance?
Yes — make the topping, spread on a baking tray, and freeze until solid. Transfer to a freezer bag and keep for up to 3 months. Scatter straight from frozen over the apple filling and bake as directed, adding five minutes to the baking time.
Why is my crumble topping not golden?
Either the oven was not hot enough, there was not enough brown sugar in the topping, or the butter was not rubbed in properly. Check your oven temperature, use the full quantity of brown sugar, and make sure the butter is rubbed in to an uneven, rough texture rather than fine crumbs.
Can I make individual apple crumbles?
Yes — divide the filling between six individual ovenproof dishes and top with the crumble. Reduce the baking time to 25 to 30 minutes. Individual crumbles look lovely served at a dinner party.
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