Brown Butter Apple Crumble

The crumble stays crisp because the butter is browned first and the topping is kept rough and cold until it goes in the oven.

Ingredients

1.2 kg cooking apples · 80 g caster sugar · 1 tsp cinnamon · a pinch of salt · 150 g cold butter · 200 g plain flour · 100 g rolled oats · 120 g soft brown sugar

Method

Brown 30 g of the butter in a small pan until it smells nutty and the milk solids go the colour of hazelnuts. Take it off the heat immediately — it goes from brown to burnt quickly. Let it cool.

Peel, core and slice the apples into a dish. Toss with caster sugar, cinnamon and salt. Rub the remaining cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs, then stir in the oats, brown sugar and the cooled brown butter.

Pile the topping on loosely — don't press it down, or it turns into a biscuit. Bake 40 minutes until the juices bubble at the edges. Serve warm, and it is still good cold the next day.