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You need to make this copycat recipe for Humble Crumble that we had when we were in London a few years ago. It occurred to me at the time that maybe I’m making too much of this, but it’s so good! Yes, it’s basically an apple crumble, but as Madeline described it best, it’s a deconstructed apple crumble, which is what makes it so interesting and delicious!
In addition to the crumble topping, you can add other toppings as well. Berries (blueberry or strawberry), chocolate chips, a sprinkle of toffee crumbs, or anything else that makes it your own dish.
What is Humble Crumble?
We discovered it while in London. When we were there, Humble Crumble had only two shops and they call themselves the first crumble bar. They started out selling at a farmer’s market stall to test the market. It caught on so quickly that they opened two shops in two very popular food halls in London; Borough Hall and Old Spitalfields Market. They now have a third shop in Camden Market. They only sell crumble and the lines are long but so worth it!
Why crumble?
Crumble is Britain’s favorite dessert! It warms people up like ice cream cools people down. Brits love their crumble and so they made it a year-round dessert by topping it with frozen custard.
Okay, so we are not adding frozen custard, but here in the United States, we like our crumble in the fall, the spring, and especially in the summer with stone fruit. And as wonderful as frozen custard sounds, the warm créme Anglaise is simply too wonderful to substitute for anything else, in my opinion!
So what is the crumble exactly?
When I first started exploring the idea I thought for the crumble I might just buy a box of shortbread and crumble it up. But upon further investigation, I discovered that it’s twice-baked shortbread. Who knew that was a thing? Well, it is and it is out of this world delicious. You can read the post here where I made it, but basically, you make shortbread, bake it, cut it into pieces and bake it again. Baking it twice gives it a warm nutty taste and is a little less sweet, balancing the other things going on in Humble Crumble.
What ingredients will I need to make this amazing Humble Crumble?
For the Apple Filling:
Apples (I used two kinds, Granny Smith and Honeycrisp)
Sugar
Brown sugar
Corn starch
Cinnamon
For the Toppings:
Twice Baked Shortbread (Recipe here)
Store-bought meringue cookies
Dried Culinary Rose Petals
Chocolate Chips
For the Crème Anglaise:
Whole milk
Heavy cream
Vanilla
Egg yolks
Sugar
Can I substitute other kinds of fruit in Humble Crumble?
Yes, make this with apples and rhubarb, peaches or any seasonal fruit like you would use in a traditional crumble.
How to serve Humble Crumble at a Dinner Party
We tested this out for Madeline and her boyfriend and so we used small servings. This could be made on a much larger scale to have your own crumble bar for a much larger dinner party.
We used latte bowls in pink inspired by London’s Humble Crumble shops and added a few scoops of the cooked apples and then everyone added what they wanted as toppings.
We had small jars of twice-baked shortbread, meringue cookies, dried rose petals, chocolate chips, and a pitcher for the créme Anglaise. We set everything on a galvanized tray from Terrain. For a larger party, I would use several trays and larger jars of toppings. This is a totally customizable dessert that can be made ahead for a party of 4 of 44! And everyone would be talking about it for days!
You need to make this copycat recipe for Humble Crumble!
Humble Crumble Served in Pink Latte Bowls Inspired by the pink cups at the London crumble shops!
Humble Crumble
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This is based on Humble Crumble in London!
- Author: annie diamond
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 54 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: dessert
Ingredients
Scale
For the apples:
- 5–6 apples peeled, cored, and diced
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 –2 teaspoons cinnamon
- pinch of salt
For the Créme Anglaise:
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons sugar
For the Toppings:
- twice-baked shortbread cookies (recipe here)
- store-bought meringue cookies, crumbled
- culinary dried rose petals
- dark chocolate chips
Instructions
For the Apples:
- Add the peeled, cored, and diced apples to a heavy pot and add the sugars, cinnamon, pinch of salt, and corn starch and cook until the apples are tender.
For the Créme Anglais:
- Combine milk and cream in a heavy medium saucepan. Add vanilla and bring milk mixture to simmer. Remove from heat.
- Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in the hot milk mixture into the yolk mixture. Return to saucepan and stir over low heat until custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon. It takes about 5 minutes (do not boil). Strain sauce into a bowl. Cover and chill. (Can be made 1 day ahead.)
Notes
Can be made with any fruit that you would typically use in a crumble.
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