Apricot Crumble — sharp summer apricots under a buttery almond crumble

i. Origin & history

The crumble is a British pudding, and one of the most loved in the country's home cooking. Recipes for fruit baked under a crumbly mixture of flour, fat and sugar appear in the early twentieth century, and the dish is often said to have become widespread during the Second World War, when rationing made it a practical alternative to pastry: a crumble needs less fat than a pie crust, no rolling and no skill, and it stretches a little fruit a long way. Whatever its exact origins, by the post-war decades crumble was a fixture of school dinners, family Sunday lunches and pub menus.

Apple and rhubarb are the British classics, because both grow abundantly in British gardens. Apricots are a more summery, continental choice: they are not easy to ripen in the British climate, and most are imported from Spain, France and Turkey in June, July and August. The apricot crumble therefore tends to be a high-summer pudding, made when the fruit is plentiful and cheap.

Crumble has since been adopted well beyond Britain. In France le crumble entered everyday cooking in the late twentieth century under its English name and is now a bistro standard, frequently made with apricots and almonds — a pairing French bakers already used in tarts and frangipanes. In the United States the near-identical dessert is usually called a crisp, especially when the topping contains oats, as in the ginger peach crisp.

Central European bakers have used crumb toppings for far longer, as the Streusel scattered over German fruit cakes. The British crumble is distinct in being a spooned pudding rather than a sliced cake, and in its insistence on custard.

ii. What happens to apricots in the oven

Raw apricots can be disappointing — mealy, mild and only faintly sweet, especially when shipped underripe. Cooking transforms them. Heat breaks down the cell walls and concentrates the fruit's acids and aromatic compounds, so a cooked apricot tastes sharper, more perfumed and more distinctly "apricot" than a raw one. This is why even indifferent supermarket apricots make an excellent crumble.

The same acidity means apricots need more sugar than apples or peaches, and the amount depends on ripeness. Taste a raw piece: if it is sharp and firm, use the full quantity below; if it is ripe and sweet, cut it back. A little vanilla and orange zest round out the flavour, and a spoonful of honey adds a floral note that suits the fruit.

Apricots also release juice readily and their skins slip and soften. Halving them and laying them cut-side up lets some of that juice evaporate during baking and gives the fruit a slightly roasted, jammy edge, rather than a soupy layer. A tablespoon of cornflour tossed with the fruit thickens what juice remains into a glossy sauce, provided the crumble is baked until the juice bubbles at the edges.

The topping is the classic British rubbed-in crumble: cold butter worked into flour and sugar with the fingertips until it resembles damp breadcrumbs, then squeezed in places to form clumps. Replacing some flour with ground almonds makes the crumble richer, shorter and nuttier, and toasts beautifully. Demerara sugar sprinkled over the top before baking gives a crunchy, glittering crust.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 6 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 900 g fresh apricots (about 15), halved and stoned
• 60 g caster sugar, for the fruit
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 150 g plain flour
• 50 g ground almonds
• 80 g light brown sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 110 g cold unsalted butter, diced
• 30 g flaked almonds
• 1 tbsp demerara sugar

Choose apricots that are fragrant and give slightly when pressed; underripe fruit is fine for baking but needs the full amount of sugar. Out of season, use two 400 g tins of apricot halves in juice, well drained, and halve the sugar; or soak 300 g dried apricots in hot water for an hour and mix with the tinned fruit for depth. The ground almonds can be replaced with more flour or with rolled oats for a more rustic, crisp-style topping. For a gluten-free crumble, use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend; the almonds help the texture. Vegan cooks can use a firm plant-based block butter.

iv. Method

1. Heat the oven to 190 °C (375 °F), fan 170 °C. Have ready a shallow baking dish of about 1.5 litres, such as a 20 × 28 cm gratin dish.
2. Toss the apricot halves with the caster sugar, honey, cornflour, vanilla and orange zest. Arrange them in the dish, cut-side up, in a slightly overlapping layer.
3. For the crumble, mix the flour, ground almonds, brown sugar and salt. Rub in the cold butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs, then squeeze some handfuls together to form small clumps.
4. Scatter the crumble evenly over the fruit without pressing it down, then sprinkle with the flaked almonds and demerara sugar.
5. Bake for 35–40 minutes, until the crumble is deep golden and the apricot juices are bubbling up thickly around the edges.
6. Rest for 10–15 minutes before serving, so the juices thicken and the fruit is not scalding.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Taste the apricots before sweetening. Sharpness varies enormously between batches. Adjust the sugar so the cooked fruit is tangy but not sour.
• Lay the fruit cut-side up. Juice collects in the hollows and partly evaporates, giving jammy, roasted fruit instead of a watery pool.
• Do not peel the apricots. The skins soften completely and give the filling its colour.
• Keep the crumble loose. Pressing it down produces a dense lid. Scatter it lightly so steam can escape between the clumps.
• Chill the topping if your kitchen is warm. Fifteen minutes in the fridge firms the butter and gives a crunchier, more clustered crumble.
• Bake until it bubbles. The cornflour only thickens the juice once it boils. A pale crumble with still fruit underneath needs longer.

vi. Variations

Apricot and raspberry is a summery combination, the raspberries adding colour and sharpness. Apricot and almond with amaretti replaces some of the flour in the topping with crushed amaretti biscuits. A pinch of cardamom or a split vanilla pod with the fruit gives a more fragrant crumble, and a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary are a modern bistro touch. In autumn, the same method suits plums, and in winter apple and blackberry is the British default.

For crumble on a pastry base, see the berry crumble tart. If you prefer apricots baked in batter, the French flaugnarde is the answer, and apricots baked under almond cream are the heart of the almond tart. Other comforting British puddings on DessertCat include sticky date pudding, jam roly-poly and spotted dick.

vii. Serving & storage

Serve apricot crumble warm, spooned into bowls. In Britain, hot custard is the traditional accompaniment, poured generously over the top; cold double cream, clotted cream, crème fraîche and vanilla ice cream are all popular alternatives. It is a family pudding, served after Sunday lunch or a summer supper.

Leftover crumble keeps, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat portions in a 180 °C (350 °F) oven for 10–15 minutes to re-crisp the topping. You can prepare the fruit and the crumble mixture separately up to a day ahead and assemble just before baking. The raw crumble mixture freezes well for up to 3 months and can be scattered over fruit straight from frozen; the baked crumble can also be frozen for up to 2 months.

ix. More from British Isles

• Sticky Date Pudding — toffee-sauced sponge
• Jam Roly-Poly — rolled suet pudding
• Bakewell Tart — almond and jam tart
• Blackberry Fool — fruit folded into cream
• Ginger Peach Crisp — American oat-topped cousin
• Flaugnarde — French fruit batter cake