A crumble is a dish of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat (usually butter), flour, and sugar. The crumble is baked in an oven until the topping is crisp. It is often served with custard, cream or ice cream as a hearty, warm close to a meal.

Popular fruits used in crumbles include apple, blackberry, peach, rhubarb, gooseberry and plum. The topping may also include oats, ground almonds or other nuts, and sometimes sour milk (vinegar and milk) is added to give the crumble a more extravagant taste. Brown sugar is often sprinkled over the crumble topping, which caramelises slightly when the pudding is baked. In some recipes the topping is made from broken biscuits (cookies in US english) or even breakfast cereals, but this is not traditional.

A similar dish, without sugar, can be made with a filling of minced beef or lamb.

In some parts of America a very similar dish may be called a crisp.

The dessert is also similar to a fruit cobbler (popular in the USA), although the topping for a cobbler is generally smoother and less crumbly.

British cuisine | Desserts

Crumble