Name: Christmas crumble recipe
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: Serves: 6
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 60g (2oz) butter; 100g (31/2oz) plain flour; 150-200g (5-7oz) leftover Christmas Pudding; 1 large cooking apple; 2 ripe pears; 2 rounded tbsp cranberry sauce; 2tbsp demerara sugar

By Jessica Ransom

last updated 30 November 2023

in Recipes

This Christmas crumble takes 10 minutes to prepare and is under 300 calories per portion.

The crumble topping contains broken up leftover Christmas pudding for a delicious festive twist on a British classic. There are only three steps in the method and seven ingredients. Serve with custard, cream or brandy butter if you want to keep with the Christmas foods.

Ingredients

60g (2oz) butter
100g (31/2oz) plain flour
150-200g (5-7oz) leftover Christmas Pudding
1 large cooking apple
2 ripe pears
2 rounded tbsp cranberry sauce
2tbsp demerara sugar

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Method

Set the oven to 180C (160C fan, Gas 4). Rub the butter into the flour until it feels like breadcrumbs. Crumble in the leftover Christmas Pudding and mix to evenly distribute.
Peel, core and slice the apple and pears into thick strips. Put half the fruit in the dish. Add 1tbsp cranberry sauce, then add the rest of the fruit and cranberry sauce, along with 1tbsp of the sugar.
Spoon the topping over the fruit and sprinkle with the rest of the demerara sugar. Put the dish on a baking sheet and bake for 40 mins or until golden and crisp. Serve hot or cold with custard or cream.

Top tips for making our Christmas crumble:

You could also make this recipe using leftover Christmas cake if you like. You’ll need to remove the icing but if there’s a marzipan layer you can tear into small pieces and mix with the fruit filling.

What else can I add to a Christmas crumble?

You could mix the zest of an orange into the filling for a subtle flavour boost and a scattering of fresh cranberries would bring a pop of colour and sour contrast to the sweet apple and pear. Festive spices such as cinnamon and ginger would make nice additions as would some finely chopped stem ginger for a lovely warm flavour.

What is the secret to crunchy crumble?

Don’t press the crumble topping too firmly as the more contact it has with the wet filling, the less crunchy it will be. If the topping is too densely packed the steam from the filling won’t be able to escape and everything will remain a little wet. For a super crunchy topping, bake the topping on a separate baking tray and sprinkle over the filling just before serving.

Can you freeze a Christmas crumble?

You can freeze the crumble before baking. Wrap tightly and then cook from the freezer, adding another 10-15 minutes to the timer. You may also need to cover the top with foil after the initial 30 minutes if it’s getting too dark.

Instead of baking one big Christmas crumble you could make individual portions. Serve in these festive star shaped ramekins from Le Creuset for a simple but effective presentation.

Our apple crumble recipe is perfect at any time of year and the Hairy Bikers apple and blackberry crumble is a popular choice too. We also have a brilliant crumble cake which can be served warm for dessert or cool as a snack.

Jessica is a freelance food writer, stylist and recipe tester. She previously worked as Senior Food Writer at Future. While at Future Jessica wrote food and drink-related news stories and features, curated product pages, reviewed equipment, and developed recipes that she then styled on food shoots. She is an enthusiastic, self-taught cook who adores eating out and sharing great food and drink with friends and family. She has completed the Level 1 Associate course at the Academy of Cheese and is continually building on her knowledge of beers, wines, and spirits.