Apple crumble with star anise

A lovely traditional pudding, but the star of the show – see what I’ve done there? – is the star anise, which gives the dish a warming, aromatic feel. But it’s the crunchy, twice-cooked crumble topping that really does it for me. Once you’ve tried it this way, this is how you’ll always make it.

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Crumble topping

• 300 g (10½ oz) plain flour
• 200 g (7 oz) brown sugar
• 200 g (7 oz) unsalted butter, cubed and softened to room temperature, plus extra for greasing
• pinch of salt

Filling

• 75 g (3 oz) unsalted butter
• 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) eating apples (such as russet or cox), peeled, cored and chopped into large chunks
• 150 g (5 oz) caster sugar
• 5 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick

To serve (optional)

• crème fraîche
• pomegranate seeds
• pomegranate syrup

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. To make the crumble topping, put the flour and brown sugar in a large bowl and mix well. Taking a few cubes of butter at a time, rub them into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Sprinkle the mixture onto a baking sheet in a thin layer, using two sheets if necessary. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and break with a fork, then return to the oven and repeat the process a couple of times, until you have a lovely crunchy biscuit topping. Set aside; if continuing to cook the apple crumble immediately, do not turn the oven off.

To make the filling, heat a wide, shallow, heavy-bottomed pan and melt the butter until it foams. Add the apples, sugar, star anise and cinnamon, and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar has dissolved and the apple is soft at the edges. Remove the cinnamon and the star anise, and add a little bit more sugar if you like.

To assemble, butter a medium-sized ovenproof dish. Spoon the fruit mixture into the bottom, then sprinkle the crumble mixture on top. Ensure the oven is preheated to 200°C/400°F/gas 6, and bake for 20 minutes until the crumble is browned and the fruit mixture bubbling. Leave to cool slightly.

To serve, put some crème fraîche into a small bowl and mix in some pomegranate seeds. Drizzle with a little pomegranate syrup and serve alongside the crumble.

Recipe from The Incredible Spice Men by Cyrus Todiwala and Tony Singh (BBC Books, $49.99, hbk, available here)

View all the recipes from The Incredible Spice Men.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.