Apple Pie Crumble Slabs

As autumn rolls in and sweet bakes go from lemon and strawberry to cinnamon and pumpkin, we find ourselves turning to the classics. Pumpkin pies, cookies, crumbles and not that there's anything wrong with those, but maybe sometimes you just want something a bit different.

These Apple Pie Crumble Slabs are a perfect new treat for the autumn and winter months and will be loved by everyone.

With a layer of buttery, melt in your mouth shortcrust pastry on the bottom, followed by a filling of comforting stewed apples and sultanas and then topped with a sweet yet simple crumble, this dessert is sure to become an autumn staple. So, let's get on with the recipe!

Happy Baking!

The Chai Home 😋

INGREDIENTS

For the pastry base

• Sweet Shortcrust Pastry - homemade or shop bought is absolutely fine - You can find our recipe here

For the apple filling

• 4x cups of Diced Apples (cut into small 1cm cubes) - approx 3x apples

• 1 & 1/2 x cups of Sultanas

• 1x cup of Muscovado Sugar

• Juice & Zest of 1x large Orange

• 1x tbsp of Pumpkin Spice

• 2x capfuls of Vanilla Extract

• 1/4 cup of Water

For the crumble topping

• 100g Cold Butter

• 200g Plain Flour

• 1x tbsp of Caster Sugar

• Sprinkling of Demerara Sugar

METHOD

If you're making your pastry go ahead and do that now.

Add the diced apples, sultanas, muscovado sugar orange zest, orange juice, water, vanilla and pumpkin spice to a medium sized saucepan and stew until the apples have softened slightly and the liquid has absorbed. You're looking at roughly 20 - 25 minutes. Be sure to stir occasionally to prevent sticking or burning.

Once cooked remove from the heat and place to one side.

Preheat the oven to 180C

Line a 30 x 20 cm glass oven dish with parchment paper - make sure it folds over the edges to allow easy removal.

Roll out your pastry to fit the base of your dish.

Approx 1/2 cm thick.

Dust your parchment with a light sprinkling of flour.

Using a fork, prick the pastry all over to prevent rising and bubbling.

Pop onto the top shelf of your preheated oven, and bake for 15 minutes.

While the pastry is baking go ahead and make your crumble topping.

Simply add the cold butter, flour and sugar to a large mixing bowl. Using your finger tips, rub the ingredients together until it forms a crumb consistency.

Once the pastry has baked, remove it from the oven and add the stewed apple mixture. Evenly spread it over the pastry.

Now evenly sprinkle with the crumble topping. We like to squash some of the crumble mixture together, to create some bigger clusters.

Sprinkle with some demerara sugar and pop it back into the oven and bake for a further 35 minutes.

Allow to cool in the oven dish, before removing and slicing.

Once sliced, add the doce de leite or caramel to a small saucepan and heat on a low heat. Once it's melted just enough to pour / flick remove from the heat.

Using a spoon drizzle the Doce de Leite over the slices. We only use a little because we don't want it to overpower the flavours of the stewed apples and buttery pastry.

Enjoy!

These taste fantastic by themselves, however they are also delicious served with either a scoop of vanilla icecream, dollop of clotted cream, or a drizzle of custard.