Recipe: Spiced apple and rye crumble slabs

Make the most of the autumnal glut of apples with these perfect treats for morning tea. Photo / Olivia Moore

Whether from your tree, from your colleague’s “please take” box, or from the sale bin at the supermarket, you’ll probably have a pile of apples that need to be used.

This is a recipe to use a few of them up.

The classic combination of apple, spices and rustic, nutty-tasting rye is nostalgic; not to mention the no-fuss assembly of base, filling and rough crumble topping.

This recipe makes 8-9 slices and uses 500g of apples.

Depending on how many apples you need to use, how many hungry humans you need to feed, or how big your sweet tooth is, you can easily double the recipe.

Spiced Apple & Rye Crumble Slabs

Ingredients

Makes 8-9 slices

• 150g butter, softened
• 125g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g plain white flour
• 150g rye flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

For the apple filling:

• 50g butter
• 500g apples (3-4), peeled, cored and diced 3cm
• 50g brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
• 1 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 75g dried fruit (I used a mixture of sultanas and currants)
• 1 Tbsp cornflour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160C fan forced. Line a 21cm square loose-bottom tin with baking paper.
2. Place the butter and brown sugar in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and pulse until the mixture is smooth. Add the dry ingredients and pulse until a dough forms, adding 1-2 Tbsp cold water as necessary.
3. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in cling film. Set aside while you make the filling.
4. To make the filling, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the apples and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened.
5. Add the brown sugar and cook for another five minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid becomes slightly syrupy.
6. Transfer about 1 Tbsp of the liquid from the pan into a small bowl and whisk in the cornflour to make a smooth paste. Add the paste to the pan, along with the remaining ingredients, and stir well.
7. Cook for a further minute, until thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
8. Press about two-thirds of the dough firmly into the base of your prepared tin. Top with the cooked apple mixture, and crumble over the remaining dough.
9. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until nicely browned on top. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, before removing gently and allowing to cool completely before slicing.

Olivia Moore and her Taupō business That Green Olive offer recipe development, food photography — in studio or on location — for restaurants and cafes, recipe video creation and social media content creation. Go to Olivia’s website for more recipes: www.thatgreenolive.com.

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