Delia Smith Crumble Topping Recipe

Delia Smith’s crumble topping recipe is three ingredients in one ratio: 175g (6 oz) plain flour, 110g (4 oz) cold butter, and 75g (3 oz) demerara sugar, rubbed together by hand in about five minutes. It works on any fruit, it keeps in the fridge for a month, and it freezes for three.

I learned this basic crumble topping from Delia’s Complete Cookery Course and I have not used a different one since. Once you know the ratio you stop needing a recipe, and you start putting crumble on everything from stewed plums to leftover Christmas mincemeat.

Crumble Recipes:

• Apple Crumble
• Rhubarb Crumble
• Sticky Toffee Pudding

The Ratio That Never Changes

Delia’s crumble mix uses a 6:4:3 ratio by weight: six parts flour, four parts butter, three parts sugar. Scale it up or down and the result is the same, so for a large family dish I double the batch and for two ramekins I halve it.

The demerara sugar is not decoration: the large crystals stay intact during baking and give the crumble its crunch. I tried caster sugar once and the topping came out flat and sandy, more like a biscuit than a crumble.

Crumble Topping Ingredients

• 175g (6 oz) plain flour (all-purpose flour), sifted
• 110g (4 oz) cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 75g (3 oz) demerara sugar

How To Make Delia Smith Crumble Topping

1. Rub the butter in: Sift the flour into a large bowl, add the cold butter cubes, and rub with your fingertips until it looks like coarse breadcrumbs. Lift your hands high above the bowl to keep air in the mixture.
2. Stir in the sugar: Add the demerara sugar and stir through. Do not rub it in. The crystals need to stay whole for the crunch.
3. Top your fruit: Sprinkle the crumble mixture loosely over the fruit, spread it to the edges, and do not press it down. A loose crumble stays crisp. A packed one goes heavy.
4. Bake: 200°C (400°F/Gas 6) for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown and bubbling at the edges.

Can You Add Oats to the Crumble Topping?

Yes. Replace half the flour with rolled oats and the topping turns chewier and more golden, almost like a flapjack crust. Delia mentions this as a variation in the Complete Cookery Course and I prefer the crumble topping with oats on rhubarb because the sweetness rounds out the tartness of the fruit.

Use jumbo rolled oats rather than instant or quick-cook, which dissolve during baking and lose all their texture. The crumble topping oats version also works well on plums and blackberries where you want a sturdier crust.

What Fruit Works Under Crumble?

Delia uses this same basic crumble topping across her books on different fruit bases. Bramley apples with cloves is the most popular, followed by rhubarb with ginger. She also suggests gooseberries with caster sugar, damsons or plums with cinnamon, blackberries mixed with apple, and dried fruit soaked in orange juice.

The rule for any fruit crumble is simple: tart fruit works, sweet fruit does not. Sweet fruit like strawberries or bananas gets too soft during the long bake. I stick to cooking apples, rhubarb, plums, gooseberries, and blackberries because they hold their shape and push their sharpness up through the topping.

Can You Make It Ahead?

This is the real trick: rub the topping together, bag it, and keep it in the fridge for up to a month or the freezer for three. When you want a crumble, scatter it straight from the bag over whatever fruit you have and bake. No rubbing, no mess, dinner sorted in 40 minutes.

I make a double batch every few weeks and freeze it in two portions. One goes on a weeknight Eve’s pudding style dish and the other waits until Sunday. The topping does not need to come to room temperature before baking. Use it frozen.

Nutrition Facts

• Calories: 280 kcal
• Fat: 16g
• Carbohydrates: 32g
• Fibre: 1g
• Protein: 3g

Nutrition is estimated per serving of topping only, based on 6 servings. Fruit filling adds roughly 50 to 80 kcal per serving depending on the sugar used.

FAQs

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