RECIPE: Easy apple crumble

Serves: 8

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Pastry:

180g (1½ cups) flour

7.5ml (1½ tsp) baking powder

100g ( cup) white sugar

180g cold butter, cut into cubes

Filling:

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cubed

15ml (1 tbsp) water

20ml (4 tsp) butter

40ml (8 tsp) brown sugar

7.5ml (1½ tsp) lemon juice

2.5ml (½ tsp) ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the sugar, then rub in the cubed butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Press two-thirds of the pastry into the base of a greased or sprayed 22cm pie dish. Wrap the rest of the pastry in clingfilm and chill.

4. To make the filling, place the apples, water, butter, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon in a saucepan over medium heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the apples are tender. Cool.

5. Place the filling on top of the pastry in the pie dish and grate the remaining chilled pastry on top.

6. Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes, turning down the heat if it is browning too quickly, until pastry is cooked through and golden in colour.

• The author of this recipe, Thuso Kgaswane, is a bakery co-ordinator for Pick n Pay, Gauteng.