Warm Apple Crumble with Velvety Custard

Welcome to the enchanting world of fall baking, where the aroma of cinnamon and sweet apples fills the air, promising warmth and comfort. While many cherish the classic apple crumble, this extraordinary Apple Crumble with Custard recipe elevates a beloved dessert to new heights. Imagine tender, sweet apples infused with a rich, creamy vanilla custard, all crowned with a golden, buttery crumble topping that’s utterly irresistible. This isn’t just any apple dessert; it’s a Dorie Greenspan masterpiece, where every bite of apple is coated in what tastes like a dreamily melted vanilla ice cream sauce, making it a truly unique and memorable treat.

As the leaves turn golden, there’s nothing quite like finding the perfect baking apples. For me, Northern Spys are the undisputed champions for pie-making, and when I stumbled upon Dorie Greenspan’s innovative approach, I knew her Easy Apple Crisp with Custard would swiftly become a cherished staple in our home. The inclusion of a luscious custard mixed directly into the apples before baking is nothing short of a culinary revelation. This simple yet profound addition transforms a traditional apple crumble into an extraordinary dessert, delivering unparalleled richness and moisture. Served warm with a generous scoop of premium vanilla ice cream, each spoonful offers a symphony of textures and flavors – crisp, sweet, tart, and undeniably comforting. It’s a truly delicious and irresistible Homemade Apple Crumble that will leave everyone craving more.

Why This Custard Apple Crumble Will Become Your Go-To Dessert

If you’re searching for the ultimate fall dessert or a comforting treat any time of year, this Apple Crumble Recipe with Custard is an absolute must-try. Here’s why it stands out:

• Seasonal Versatility: While it perfectly captures the essence of autumn, apples are readily available year-round, making this an effortlessly easy dessert to enjoy in any season. It brings warmth on a chilly evening and a sweet finish to a summer barbecue.
• Unmatched Comfort: This recipe defines comfort food. Best served warm, perhaps with a scoop of your favorite vanilla bean ice cream, it creates a cozy, nostalgic experience that soothes the soul. The interplay of warm, spiced apples and cool, creamy ice cream is simply divine.
• Luxurious Custard Infusion: What truly distinguishes this Best Apple Crumble is the innovative addition of a sweet vanilla custard directly mixed with the apples. This ingenious step ensures every apple piece is enveloped in a rich, velvety sauce as it bakes, creating a much richer and more succulent fruit filling than a traditional crumble. It’s like having a creamy, melted vanilla ice cream sauce coating every sweet apple nugget!

I adore a straightforward apple crisp or crumble, especially during the autumn months. With a husband who oddly shies away from oats in his dessert (despite enjoying oatmeal for breakfast!), finding an oat-free apple crisp is crucial. Thankfully, Dorie Greenspan’s recipe from her brilliant cookbook, Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook, proved to be absolutely perfect. It’s a testament to her culinary genius, and I’m thrilled to finally be exploring more recipes from this winner!

Even my oldest son, who visited a couple of times last week, was completely captivated by this easy apple dessert. He devoured it with delight, even without the customary ice cream on his second helping! The secret truly lies in the synergistic combination of using delicious, firm baking apples and the rich custard seamlessly blended into the fruit. This creates a simple yet spectacularly flavorful dessert that is far from ordinary. If you appreciate the classic appeal of apple crisps and crumbles but are eager for an enhanced, more indulgent version, you absolutely must give this remarkable recipe a try.

Unlock the Perfect Apple Crumble: Expert Recipe Tips

Crafting the ultimate Custard Apple Crumble requires attention to a few key details. These tips will help you achieve a perfectly balanced, flavorful, and beautifully textured dessert every time:

• PRO-Tip: Selecting Your Apples for Optimal Flavor. The choice of apples is paramount for a truly exceptional apple dessert. Don’t limit yourself to a single variety; using a thoughtful combination of baking apples brings a delightful complexity of flavor and texture. For instance, a mix of tart and sweet apples ensures a balanced profile. If it’s not peak apple season, reliable pairings include crisp Granny Smith for tartness and Golden Delicious for sweetness. Other widely available and excellent alternatives are Honeycrisp, Braeburn, and Fuji, known for holding their shape well during baking. For those fortunate enough to reside in the Northeast, Northern Wisconsin, or Minnesota, keep an eye out for Northern Spy apples—they are my personal favorite for their incredible baking qualities. Aim for approximately 1.5 pounds of apples for this recipe.
• Achieving Perfect Doneness: Ensuring your apples are tender and the crumble topping is golden brown is key. To check for doneness, carefully insert a sharp paring knife into a few of the apple pieces. If the knife slides in easily with minimal resistance, your apples are perfectly cooked, indicating the crumble is ready. The filling should also appear bubbly around the edges, and the topping should have a beautiful, golden-brown hue.
• PRO-Tip: Elevating Flavors with Spices. While cinnamon is the quintessential spice for apple desserts and is included in this recipe, don’t hesitate to experiment with other warm spices to create a more complex flavor profile. Consider adding smaller amounts of allspice, nutmeg, ginger, and/or ground cardamom to taste. These spices are often found together in commercial “Apple Pie Spice” mixtures and wonderfully complement the natural sweetness and tartness of apples, deepening the overall richness of your Homemade Apple Crumble. Remember to adjust quantities based on your personal preference.
• Preparation is Key: Ensure your butter for the crumble topping is very cold and cut into small cubes. This helps create distinct, buttery crumbs that bake up crisp and light, rather than a dense, doughy crust. When tossing the apples with lemon juice, do so immediately after peeling and slicing to prevent browning and to add a bright counterpoint to the sweetness.
• Resting the Crumble Topping: The instruction to cover and refrigerate the streusel for an hour is important. This chill time helps solidify the butter, preventing the topping from melting too quickly in the oven and ensuring a wonderfully crumbly, crisp texture.

Crisps, Crumbles, Cobblers, and Beyond: Understanding Fruit Desserts

The world of baked fruit desserts can be a delightful maze, with many variations sharing similar characteristics but distinct names. Dorie Greenspan’s recipe, while calling for a “crisp” in some contexts, leans heavily into the “crumble” category due to its oat-free topping. It’s similar in spirit to the Classic Apple Crisp I prepare annually. To clear up any confusion and delve into the precise definitions of these beloved desserts, I turned to my trusted Food Lover’s Companion:

• Crumble: This is primarily a British invention, featuring raw fruit baked beneath a delicate, crumbly pastry mixture. The defining characteristic of a traditional crumble topping is the absence of oats, resulting in a lighter, more biscuit-like texture.
• Crisp: Very much like a crumble, the crisp is an American variation. Its distinguishing feature is the inclusion of oats in the topping, which, when baked, creates a delightful, well… crisp texture. So, my “crisp” without oats was indeed a crumble all along!
• Cobbler: A true American classic, a cobbler is a deep-dish fruit dessert topped with dollops or a layer of biscuit dough. As it bakes, the biscuit topping forms a somewhat “cobbled” or uneven surface, hence its charming name.
• Buckle: An American term primarily used for a single-layer cake baked with berries (most often blueberries) mixed into the batter, or sometimes a streusel topping, causing the fruit-laden cake to “buckle” as it bakes.
• Grunt or Slump: These charmingly named old-fashioned stewed desserts originate from New England. They consist of cooked fruit (often berries) topped with dumplings or biscuit dough that are steamed or gently simmered, rather than baked, over the fruit. The “grunt” refers to the sound the simmering fruit makes.
• Betty: An American dessert with colonial roots, a Betty is essentially a baked pudding composed of layers of spiced fruit (typically apples) and buttered breadcrumbs. The most famous iteration is the comforting Apple Brown Betty, where the breadcrumbs become golden and crisp.

Frequently Asked Questions About Apple Crumble with Custard

How Do You Make an Apple Crumble with Custard?

Creating a classic apple crumble or crisp is a surprisingly straightforward process. It typically involves tossing sliced apples with a mixture of sugar and warming spices, then topping them with a simple streusel made from butter, flour, and sugar. This is then baked until the fruit softens, the filling bubbles invitingly, and the topping turns a beautiful golden brown.

However, to make this unique Apple Crumble with Custard, the preparation is elevated. Instead of just sugar and spices, a luscious mixture of heavy cream, a whole egg, an egg yolk, and vanilla extract (along with a hint of Calvados or dark rum for depth) is whisked together with the sugar. This creamy blend is then generously poured over and mixed with the apples. This innovative step essentially bakes a rich, vanilla “ice cream-like” custard directly with the fruit, infusing the apples with an unparalleled moistness and luxurious flavor, creating a dessert that’s truly extraordinary.

How Long Does It Take to Bake an Apple Crumble?

The baking time for an apple crumble generally ranges from 45 to 60 minutes, though several factors can influence the precise duration. These variables include the specific type and ripeness of apples you choose (firmer apples may require a bit more time), the unique characteristics of your oven (as temperatures can vary), and the specific recipe you are following. Always look for visual cues like a golden-brown, bubbly filling and tender apples (test with a knife) to confirm doneness.

Does an Apple Crumble Need to be Refrigerated?

Generally, traditional apple crumbles can be stored at room temperature for a day or two. However, due to the inclusion of fresh cream and eggs in the custard filling of this particular recipe, refrigeration is absolutely essential. Once cooled, this Custard Apple Crumble should be covered tightly and stored in the refrigerator. It will maintain its delicious flavor and texture for 3-5 days, making it an excellent make-ahead dessert.

Can You Freeze an Apple Crumble?

Yes, this Homemade Apple Crumble freezes beautifully, whether baked or unbaked. For optimal freshness, it should be wrapped airtight in several layers of plastic wrap and then foil, and can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. To bake from frozen, it’s best to first defrost it overnight in the refrigerator. Once thawed, you can reheat the baked crumble in a low oven (around 300-350°F or 150-175°C) until warmed through and the topping has re-crisped. If baking an unbaked, defrosted crumble, follow the original baking instructions.

Explore More Apple & Dessert Delights

If you’ve fallen in love with the comforting flavors of this Apple Crumble with Custard, we invite you to explore more of our cherished recipes:

• Elegant Apple Strudel Recipe
• Collection of Favorite Apple Recipes
• Decadent Apple Crisp Cheesecake
• Harvest-Inspired Apple Pear Crisp
• Discover more of my Best Dessert Recipes for every occasion!

The Recipe:

Apple Crumble with Custard

Prep Time
40 minutes

Cook Time
1 hour

Additional Time
1 hour

Total Time
1 hour

Yield
8

An exquisitely easy apple dessert featuring a luscious vanilla custard mixed directly into the apples, all crowned with a golden, buttery crumble topping for an unforgettable treat.

This exceptional recipe is adapted from the renowned Dorie Greenspan’s “Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook” cookbook.

Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars based on 52 reviews

Ingredients

For the Buttery Streusel Crumble:

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar, packed
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 5 ½ tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold and cut into small cubes (if using salted butter, reduce added salt elsewhere)
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Luscious Crumble Filling:

• 1 ½ pounds baking apples (Dorie recommends Golden Delicious, Fuji, or Gala. For best results, use a mix of apples like Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or my favorite, Northern Spys, known for their excellent pie-baking qualities)
• A generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about 1-2 teaspoons)
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon Calvados or dark rum (optional, but adds depth of flavor)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions for a Perfect Apple Crumble with Custard

1. Prepare the Streusel Topping: In a medium bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, both granulated and brown sugars, and ground cinnamon until well combined. Add the cold, cubed butter to the dry mixture and toss gently to coat each piece. Using your fingertips, squeeze and rub the mixture together until moist, coarse crumbs begin to form.
2. Chill the Streusel: To test the consistency, pinch a small amount of the streusel; it should hold together. Sprinkle the ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract over the crumbs and gently mix to incorporate. Cover the bowl tightly and refrigerate for at least one hour to firm up the butter, ensuring a perfectly crisp topping.
3. Preheat Oven: While the streusel chills, preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
4. Prepare the Apples: Peel, core, and slice your chosen apples into evenly sized pieces (about ½-inch thick). Place them directly into a 9-inch pie plate. Drizzle a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice over the apples, tossing gently to coat them and prevent browning. Spread the apples evenly in the dish.
5. Create the Custard Filling: In a separate bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, the whole egg, and the egg yolk until smoothly blended. Stir in the Calvados or dark rum (if using) and the remaining 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract. Pour this rich custard mixture evenly over the prepared apples in the pie plate, gently jiggling the dish to ensure the custard seeps into all the nooks and crannies between the apple slices.
6. Add the Crumble Topping: Retrieve the chilled streusel from the refrigerator. Evenly sprinkle the crumbly topping over the custard-coated apples. Lightly tap the streusel to help it adhere to the fruit, but do not press it down firmly.
7. Prepare for Baking: Line a sturdy baking sheet with parchment paper. Carefully place the pie plate in the center of the lined baking sheet. This will catch any potential drips and make cleanup easier.
8. Bake to Perfection: Bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until the crumble topping is beautifully golden brown, the apple filling is visibly bubbly, and the apples are tender when pierced with a knife.
9. Serve: Allow the apple crumble to cool for at least 20-30 minutes to warm or room temperature before serving. This allows the custard to set slightly. For the ultimate indulgence, serve with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream or an extra drizzle of cream.

Chef’s Notes & Variations

Store any leftover Apple Crumble with Custard covered tightly in the refrigerator for 3-5 days due to the fresh cream and eggs in the filling.

For a delightful seasonal twist, consider swapping out the apples for an equal amount of firm pears or ripe peaches when they are in season. Adjust spices as needed to complement the chosen fruit.

Recommended Baking Essentials

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• Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, 4 ounces
• Durable Ceramic Pie Plate
• OXO Good Grips 11-Inch Better Balloon Whisk

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 257Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 79mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 2gSugar: 16gProtein: 3g

Thatskinnychickcanbake.com occasionally offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although thatskinnychickcanbake.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased can change the nutritional information in any given recipe. Also, many recipes on thatskinnychickcanbake.com recommend toppings, which may or may not be listed as optional and nutritional information for these added toppings is not listed. Other factors may change the nutritional information such as when the salt amount is listed “to taste,” it is not calculated into the recipe as the amount will vary. Also, different online calculators can provide different results.

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