We cooked this spiced apple crumble for the first time on Halloween in Ard Forest (Scotland), not far from where we live. It was a cool autumnal day, and we spent hours in the forest playing games and exploring.

This spiced apple crumble is one of the best apple crumbles that we've ever had, and we like our crumbles!

It was so simple to cook, even over a campfire, that we thought we’d done it wrong! When cooking this over a campfire, keep the flames small and cook slowly to avoid burning.

When cooking over an open fire, we get the best results by cooking slowly over hot coals or by keeping the fire small and controlled. The key is to be patient and just enjoy the experience of cooking outdoors.

Ingredients

Filling

  • 4 apples (we used four and it filled our frying pan, but we intended to use 6)
  • 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of Cinnamon

Crumble

  • 80 grams of oatmeal
  • 120 grams of flour
  • 180 grams of brown sugar
  • 120 grams of butter (we used Stalk as it’s dairy-free)

At home preparation

Weigh out all the sugar mixture for the filling and the crumble ingredients into separate containers. Keep the butter in a separate tub and take the apples whole to slice later.

Method

  1. Build a good fire and let it burn down to a bed of hot embers, or maintain small controlled flames like we did.
  2. Core and slice the apples and spread them out in a frying pan, then cover with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
  3. Melt butter in a separate pan and then mix in the dry crumble ingredients until you get the consistency of breadcrumbs.
  4. sprinkle the crumble mixture onto the top of the apple filling.
  5. Wrap the frying pan with tin foil and cook over your fire.

We cooked ours for 20 minutes, but keep checking it until you're happy with it. Cooking on a fire is never an exact science!

We ate our crumble with some custard and caramel drizzle (because it wasn't sweet enough already!) to make it a bit more special as it was Halloween. In hindsight, we wouldn't have bothered with the toppings as the crumble was sweet and wet enough.

If you cook it at home or in the forest as we did, please let us know what you think.

We hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we did.

I got tasked the job of cutting the apples
I got tasked the job of cutting the apples
Our fire ready to go
Our fire ready to go
Me mixing the crumble mixture into the melted butter
Me mixing the crumble mixture into the melted butter
Sarah adding the spice mix to the sliced apples
Sarah adding the spice mix to the sliced apples
Sarah giving it a good mix to ensure the apples are covered in the spice mix
Sarah giving it a good mix to ensure the apples are covered in the spice mix
Covering the apples with the crumble mixture
Covering the apples with the crumble mixture
The crumble cooking with frying pan wrapped in tin foil to prevent burning and keep in the moisture
The crumble cooking with frying pan wrapped in tin foil to prevent burning and keep in the moisture
The finished crumble about to be served! Yum!
The finished crumble about to be served! Yum!
Mmmm delicious with custard and caramel sauce
Mmmm delicious with custard and caramel sauce
Eve wanted seconds!
Eve wanted seconds!