This recipe for Apple Betty uses up your stale bread, transforming it into a delicious pudding. It is similar to my breadcrumb crumble with a slightly different method and without the oats. This is achieved by browning the breadcrumbs before combining with sugar and melted butter. You are going to need to watch the bread crumbs like a hawk though as they go from brown to burnt in a very short time.
Ingredients
For the topping:
100-150g of breadcrumbs (depending on how much of a loaf you have left over that has gone stale on your bread board)
75g-100g butter (the more bread the more butter you will need)
50g soft light brown sugar
half a teaspoon of mixed spice or cinnamon
For the fruit:
2-3 cooking apples (I used 2 large brambles for mine). You can add blackberries or use any other fruit that you like for this.
25g sugar
Method
Preheat your oven to 180C, gas mark 4, 350F
Toast your breadcrumbs in a dry frying pan over a medium heat (by dry frying pan I mean it doesn’t need any oil or butter). You can also tip them in a tray and place in the oven as it is preheating. Keep a close eye on the crumbs though as they will turn from brown to burnt very quickly. Bake or toast until the crumbs are a light golden brown.
Melt the butter and add to the toasted crumbs with the sugar and the spice. Mix well until everything is combined.
Prepare your apples by peeling and cutting into chunks, discarding the core. Place the prepared fruit in an ovenproof dish. Cover the breadcrumb mixture and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the fruit is cooked and the topping is crunchy and dark brown.
This is delicious warm from the oven with cream or custard. It is also good cold the next day.
