Because I have just got a new job (my contract arrived today) and my birthday is next week, we are having a couple of our dearest friends round for supper, to help celebrate.
I don’t normally make puddings or desserts for everday meals but when I am cooking for friends, I always do something. This wasn’t going to be a fancy, high-end cuisine extravaganza, this was going to be laughter and celebrating with friends – we wanted good food but easy food. I wasn’t looking to show off, just feed us all well and keep us happy and relaxed.
You know the kind of meal I mean.
I made broccoli and almond soup to start with and then for the main course I made slow roasted plate of beef, as I did at Christmas for other friends. The pudding had to be something that would fit well with that and as it was bitingly cold outside I felt I was justified in making what could, perhaps, be called a substantial pudding.
The weather has been improving recently and, at long last, there’s sunshine and brightness in the day time. Soon, I’ll be moving towards lighter and fresher meals, something with more zing about them, but there’s time enough, I reckon, for one more rib-sticking pud.
Apple Crumble. That would be just the thing… the slightly crunchy yet soft, crisp top, over sweet and molten apples, with a river of thick cream poured over the top…. except…. except I wanted to make it even nicer. But how? I thought and looked through my cupboards…..
And the answer? Toffee Apple Crumble.
The secret ingredient? A bag of fudge – good, crumbly, buttery fudge.
First of all though, I needed apples. I wanted good, crisp and sweetly-sharp apples so these juicy Braeburns were perfect.
So, peel and cube those four lovely apples and then, because I am getting this ready mid-afternoon so all I have to do is tonight is pop it in the oven as we sit down to dinner and as I don’t want those apple pieces to look horribly brown
the juice of a squeezed lemon sprinkled over the apple will keep all the pieces bright and also add a touch of sharpness, which will be a lovely counterpoint to the lovely sweet softness of the rest of the crumble.
After rubbing round a lovely deep oven proof bowl with butter, just drop the apple in and scatter with a sprinkle of sugar
And then… remember that fudge?
That needs cutting into smaller pieces and do try not to eat too many bits. Both the Bear and I might have stolen a piece or two…..
and scatter them amongst the apple.
Now you need to make the crumble, which is probably the easiest thing in the world to do.
In a big bowl put 300g of plain flour, 200g of softened butter and 175g of golden granulated sugar and start to rub it between your fingers so it blends together and starts to look a bit like breadcrumbs
which can then be sprinkled over the apple and fudge pieces.
If you give the dish a gentle shake from side to side the crumble mix settles down around the apple.
And that’s it.
Now, though, for a confession.
Our friends arrived, just after 8 pm and we started toasting each other with pink champagne… then we started eating. I put the crumble into the oven at 180 degrees and we swapped to red wine to go with the long roasted plate of beef. We were getting slightly giddy. We carried on laughing and pouring wine.
Then, forty minutes later, or thereabouts, it was time to have pudding…. and oh, it was gorgeous.
Beautiful, bubbling fudgey-toffee-appley sauce coming up round the edges of the crumble… the smell…. oh it was beyond divine. The thick Jersey cream was perfect poured all over it…
So perfectly divine that I completely forgot to take a picture of it.
All I can say was well, you know what crumble looks like – it looked like that.
What you need to know was that the fudge pieces were an inspired addition and it was so utterly gorgeous our friends took the rest of the bowl back home so their children could finish it off today.
The only other thing? I wish I had made another one so we could have some more today!
I love toffee apple crumble, have made Rachel Allen’s one before with great success but am drooling over the bits of fudge in your version! Sounds delicious 🙂
It was… I can’t believe I let them take the rest of the bowl! It is FAR too good for children! I was rather pleased with my little twist using the fudge… it meant there were little pools of fudgey delight amongst the apple. The only improvement? Either get a bigger bag of fudge or steal fewer pieces than the Bear and I did! Fudge is good… more fudge would be better!
Oh congratulations Wendy. What’s the job? Bet that fudge in the crumble is good.
Congratulations on your new job and on the fabby crumble/fudge combo. I’m glad you had a good evening with your friends, I’ll raise a glass to you when I next have one – ooh good excuse!
A great job working for the Dean of Science! I am soooo pleased – you know what jobs are like at the moment with all the cuts. I keep skipping about happily!
Try the fudge!
Congrats on your new job! I’m glad I get to benefit from it too–this recipe looks amazing! 🙂
Oh but, Daily Chef, in California the weather is SO much better than here – it is thick fog and freezing cold. We need stodge to survive! I bet you have bright skies and sunshine!
Fudge in apple crumble! Brilliant! Why have I never thought of that before? It looks SO wonderful!
It IS wonderful! (Hello Katie!) Good for taste… bad for diet!I think everyone ought to experiment with various proportions of fudge till we get the ultimate crumble fudge recipe. We could be onto something here!
Congrats for your new job. I can imagine you dancing around the kitchen while making this lovely dessert 😀
I love apple crumble but would never have thought to make toffee apple crumble 🙂 Going to have to try this one out 😉
Wendy – This sounds delicious. I used toffee sauce (Dulce de Leche) in my Toffee Apple Croissant Bread & Butter Pudding but what a great idea to put fudge pieces in a Crumble topping! I keep a list of good Crumble ideas on my site:
Sweet Crumble Mixtures
so I will add your version there as a reminder to myself, along with a link to this recipe. I hope that is OK! You don’t give an amount for the fudge pieces, but I suppose that the answer is as many as you like!
h/e
I have just realised that the fudge is in the filling rather than in the topping: expect it is still good, though!
h/e
Hopeeternal… well, the amount of fudge is dependent upon how much you have left from a bag after you have “tested” it to make sure it is good enough to add… and after you have had your husband check your findings too… 🙂
Thinking about adding fudge to the crumble – you’d probably have to omit it from the fruit as you would have a major sweetness overload. One or the other, I think…. and I think I may check out adding it to the crumble next time! Good call, hopeeternal!
Oh and THANK YOU for the mention! x
No problem: if something is worth noting I like to do so and to give credit!
I agree with the sugar overload and I do wonder if fudge in the topping might go a bit hard, so perhaps it would be better to leave the fudge to keep soft under the crumble.
I am thinking chopped fudge with dried fruit would be good to stuff apples with too ….!
h/e
I can imagine the fudgey melting pools with the apple and the smooth almost creamy blandness (do you know what I mean? I know crumble topping is sweet, but in comparison) of the crumble. I am assuming this doesn’t fall in the 400 calories per portion and under category? 🙂 Worth every calorie though!
Adding fudge is complete genius and the eating it with Jersey cream – I am drooling!