Method
Cook the crumble and apple, then build your mug
Prepare the apple and crumble
- 01
Heat the oven to 180°C, 160°C fan or Gas 4. Keep the thick vanilla custard in the fridge until you are ready to assemble the mug.
- 02
Put the 35 g plain flour and tiny pinch of salt into a small bowl. Add the 20 g butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until you have fine crumbs. Stir through the 20 g brown sugar and 10 g oats, then lightly squeeze a few little handfuls together to make small clusters.
- 03
Spread the crumble mixture loosely over a small baking tray or ovenproof dish. Bake for 15–20 minutes, turning it gently once halfway through, until it is golden and crisp. Leave it on the tray while you cook the apples. Do not bake the crumble into the apple: keeping it separate protects its crunch.
- 04
Melt the 10 g butter in a small lidded saucepan over a low-to-medium heat. Add the Bramley and Braeburn chunks, 15–20 g soft brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, the lemon juice and a tiny pinch of salt. Stir so the apples are evenly coated.
- 05
Cover and cook gently for 8–10 minutes, stirring two or three times. Remove the lid, then cook for another 3–5 minutes, stirring more often, until the Bramley has softened into a natural sauce while identifiable pieces of Braeburn remain. The filling is ready when it is thick and spoonable and no loose liquid collects in the pan. Remove it from the heat but keep it warm.
Assemble for repeated spoonfuls
- 06
Spoon roughly half of the warm apple filling into the bottom of the 591 ml mug to make the apple base.
- 07
Spoon roughly half of the cold thick vanilla custard into one side of the apple as a pocket. Do not spread it into one solid layer across the mug.
- 08
Add the remaining warm apple, spooning it around and partly over the first custard pocket rather than flattening everything into neat layers.
- 09
Add the remaining cold custard as a second pocket in a different part of the mug. Leave enough room at the top for the crumble and safe spoon access.
- 10
Scatter all of the crisp crumble generously over the top and serve straight away, while the apple is warm, the custard is cold and the crumble is crisp. Push the spoon down through the mug so each serving picks up all three components.
Best served with cold thick vanilla custard
The temperature contrast is part of the intended recipe experience. Do not treat this as a conventional layered dessert: build pockets across the mug so deep spoonfuls repeatedly pick up warm apple, cold custard and crisp crumble together.
