Apricot oat crumble

The apricot crumble starts with the fruit. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Grease a smaller baking dish. Wash the apricots under cold water, halve them and remove the stones. Cut each half into smaller pieces and transfer them to the dish. Sprinkle them with sugar and ground cinnamon and stir gently. If the fruit is very juicy, add a spoonful of plain flour, which will thicken the excess juice during baking. Spread the fruit into an even layer.

Put the plain flour, oats and cane sugar into a second bowl. Mix briefly. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add it to the dry ingredients. With your fingertips quickly rub the butter into the mixture until a coarse crumbly topping forms. Do not work it for long. Otherwise the butter warms up and the mixture clumps. Chill the finished topping in the fridge for a few minutes so it firms up.

Scatter the chilled topping evenly over the whole surface of the fruit. Leave no gaps. Place the dish on a tray that will catch any escaping juice. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes, until the top turns nicely golden and the fruit underneath starts to bubble. Let the finished dessert cool slightly on a rack so the filling thickens.

The warm dessert tastes best straight away. Serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a spoonful of sour cream. Keep any leftovers covered in the fridge and eat them within two days. Before serving again, warm it briefly in the oven so the top turns crisp once more.