How to Make Colm O’Gorman’s Festive Apple Cranberry Pecan Crumble

I love fresh cranberries. I love how tangy and yet sweet they are, how wonderfully they pair in both sweet and savory dishes. They are wonderfully versatile. I’m always excited to see them arrive in supermarkets and buy pounds of them, which allows me to make lots of cranberry sauce, desserts, muffins and more. I also freeze a few trays to have some to distribute out of season.

This crumble recipe combines cranberries with apples, topped with lightly spiced pecan crumbs. This is a lovely festive dessert, perfect for a holiday lunch or dinner if you have a gang to feed. It’s quite quick to prepare, and if you want, you can even prepare it in advance and then put it in the oven to cook for thirty minutes before serving. Make sure to use cooking apples for this recipe.

I serve this with a creamy homemade orange custard. I love making custard, there’s something magical about watching the eggs and cream thicken into a smooth, velvety custard when you stir. It takes a little effort, but it’s definitely worth it. If you prefer to keep it simple, you can serve this crumble with my pretty whiskey cream which only takes a few minutes to prepare.

Apple Cranberry Pecan Crumble

This crumble is a wonderful festive dessert, perfect for a festive lunch or dinner if you have a gang to feed

Preparation time

15 minutes

Method

Preheat your oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
Rinse the cranberries. Peel and core the apples by cutting them into quarters about two centimeters thick. Heat a large, heavy-based frying pan over high heat, and when it is nice and hot, add the butter. When the butter completely melts and begins to foam, add the apples and brown sugar. Reduce the heat to medium and swirl the pan to coat the apples while the sugar melts into the butter and forms a soft caramel. It will only take a few minutes. I like my apples to be a little crunchy in a crumble, so I roast them in the pan like this for five minutes maximum.
Don’t forget that they still have thirty minutes left in the oven. Add the cranberries and mix them with the apples during the last minute of cooking in the pan.
Arrange the apple and cranberry in a deep baking dish, pouring over the remaining caramel in the tin and set aside while you prepare the crumble topping.
Cut the butter into cubes and put it in a food processor with the sugar, flour and spices. Use the dough cutter and pulse until you have a very fine breadcrumb-like texture. Chop or crush the nuts. Break them into coarse pieces, keeping at least half of the pecans in halves or quarters for optimal texture and flavor. Add the nuts to the crumble and mix them with your fingers to obtain a nice lumpy topping.
Spread the crumble over the fruit, put the baking tray in the oven and bake for thirty minutes until the crumble is toasted and golden brown on top. Once cooked, remove it from the oven.
If you serve it with the orange custard, you can prepare it while the crumble is cooking.
Pour the cream and 325ml of milk into a saucepan, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract and bring the saucepan to a gentle boil.
Add the last 50 ml of milk to the egg yolks. Mix the caster sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl, then add the milk and egg mixture. Whisk until smooth. The milk should now be close to boiling, so remove it from the heat and slowly pour it over the egg mixture, stirring all the time.
When the mixture is smooth, strain it into a clean saucepan. Add the zest and juice of one orange and mix. Place the saucepan over low heat and continue stirring until the cream thickens. It’s ready when the custard covers the back of your spoon. When it looks almost ready, increase the heat a little until it is close to boiling, stirring all the time, then reduce the heat again, still stirring, for another 2-3 minutes to cook the cornstarch.
If you prepare the crumble with the whiskey cream, you can make it once the crumble is out of the oven.
Pour the cream into a large mixing bowl with the sugar and whisky, you can replace the whiskey with vanilla extract if you prefer. Beat the cream until smooth and soft peaks.
Serve the crumble warm with the custard on the side, or with a generous dollop of whiskey cream.