At last - I've found a yummy gluten free crumble!

I don't know about you, but I have had real trouble making a nice gluten free crumble. I have tried many times to make a crumble topping using gluten free flour and all it ever does is go black and slightly burnt on top. I have doubled up on the amount of butter in an attempt to get it crumbly rather than floury; I have tried to cover it to stop it burning; I have added oats in an attempt to change the texture but none of these ever result in a crumble that even comes close to a golden, crumbly crumble using normal flour!

So in a moment of inspiration, I decided to try baking gluten free biscuits and then breaking these up on top of the filling and IT WORKED!!

My mum used to bake a biscuit called a ginger fairing (you can tell it's an old recipe as it's still in ounces!) and I have played with these recently using gluten free flour and they come out just as delicious. So for the apple crumble I was making, I substituted the ginger with cinnamon and added some oats for a slightly different texture, baked the biscuits then crumbled them on top of the apple filling and warmed them up again in the oven.

It was so delicious I made it again this weekend with a fresh from the garden rhubarb filling and this time I was a bit rougher with the baked biscuits and crumbled them much more so that there were no gaps across the top of the pudding. Sadly we ate them all before I could take a photograph!

Below is the recipe for the biscuits:

Ginger Fairings

Makes about 12 biscuits
4 oz butter
1 level tablespoon golden syrup
6 oz self-raising flour
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
1 level teaspoon ground ginger or cinnamon
3 oz caster sugar
2 tablespoons rolled oats (optional) 

Melt the syrup and butter over a low heat. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and ground ginger/cinnamon together, add the sugar and mix into the melted butter. I also added the 2 tablespoons of rolled oats at this point.

Roll a rounded teaspoon of mixture into a ball in your hands. Place the balls fairly well apart on an ungreased baking tray. Bake on the centre shelf of a moderately hot oven (375°F, 190°C, gas mark 5) for 12 to 15 minutes or until cooked. Leave to cool slightly before removing them from the baking tray.

I know it is going to become a regular addition to our menu.

© 2012 Nicola Noble: Please observe the rules of copyright and blog etiquette. If you use my ideas or images, please link back to my blog. And do let me know - I'd love to take a look.