English ~ Apple Crumble with Custard

Ingredients

Crumble Topping
225g Plain or wholewheat flour
75g Butter (room temperature)
75g - 110g Soft Brown Sugar (to taste)


Filling
900g Cooking Apples25g Soft Brown Sugar
1 level teaspoon Powdered Cinnamon
2 tablespoons of Water


Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180 centigrade. (350 in Fahrenheit)
Core, peel and slice the apples and place in a saucepan with the water, sugar and cinnamon. Cook gently until the apples are soft. Put the cooked apples into a casserole (1.75 litre) and prepare the crumble topping.
Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the butter. Rub the flour and butter together until it looks crumbly and the butter has been evenly dispersed through the flour. Add the sugar and mix together to ensure that everything is combined.
Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the top of the cooked apples using a fork to even out the distribution but don't press it down.
Cook in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes until lightly golden brown.


Custard - 2 servings

Ingredients

300 ml milk. Full cream is best
1 Vanilla Pod (or Vanilla essence)
4 Egg Yolks
25g of sugar



Treacle Sponge & Custard Real Custard or Custard Sauce is the most common accompaniment to English Puddings. Ask anyone what their favourite English Pudding is and they will nearly always tell you and then add "and custard". Here is a simple recipe to make the real thing.


Method

Keep back three tablespoons of the milk and put the rest into a saucepan with the vanilla pod. Brink the milk almost to the boil and then take it off the heat. Leave to cool for about 15 minutes to give the vanilla time to infuse into the milk.

Place the egg yolks and sugar into a bowl with the reserved milk and mix together until creamy. If using vanilla essence add this now. Take out the vanilla pod and gently add the warm milk to the egg mixture and stir. Put the mixture into a clean sauce pan and cook gently until it coats the back of a spoon and acquires the thickness of single cream. Serve the finished custard in a cool jug. Can be enjoyed hot or cold.