Homemade Gluten and Dairy Free Apple Crumble

It's late afternoon over here and the sun is lost behind a mass of thick charcoal clouds which deliver a menacing promise of more rain. It's on these rainy days that I feel inspired to enter the kitchen to create something warm and homely to line my stomach. There are very few things which I enjoy more than cooking tasty treats with my mum on a damp, blustery day—and I hope you find this recipe just as fun (and tasty) to try!

This recipe is perfect for anyone who has celiac disease and wants a warming treat on a winter's evening. The added benefit is that it's also suitable for vegans.

Ingredients: 

Serves 4

For the topping: 

6oz gluten free plain white flour (I used Dove's Gluten Free Plain White Flour)
1oz ground oats (I ground up Juvela's Gluten Free Rolled Oats but any gluten free oats are good)
1oz ground almonds
3oz dairy free sunflower spread (Pure Sunflower Spread works well)
4oz unrefined muscovado sugar

For the filling:

2 medium/large sized cooking apples
1 tbsp of water
2oz of muscovado sugar or honey


Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Place flour and sugar into a bowl with ground oats and almonds.
3. Rub in the margarine lightly with your fingertips, until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
4. Peel and slice apples into a saucepan, adding water and a little sugar (depending on personal preference—I like my apples tart so I added 1oz).
5. Stew apples on a medium heat before spooning onto the bottom of a baking dish.
6. Place the mixture on top of the stewed apple, spreading across evenly until all of the fruit filling is covered.
7. Put in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the crumble is crisp and the apple is hot.

Best Homemade Gift to Give a Loved One

During my time with my last ex-boyfriend, I worked really hard trying to think of an anniversary present that would be really meaningful. I was happy to get something material for him but I also wanted something that he could look at fondly each day, too. It's fair to say that the creative juices were not running high that afternoon though and I was utterly stumped about what to do. Anyone who knows me can clarify that I like to get organised months in advance and I was determined to put a lot of effort into ensuring that my gift was something he would remember.

As with all matters, I took to the internet in the hopes of getting some inspiration and I'm pleased to say that I wasn't disappointed. Before long, I stumbled across a beautiful idea that I was certain would not disappoint. It turns out a guy on Reddit had ingeniously shown his love for his girlfriend by creating an incredibly touching and meaning 365 Day Love Jar. (More info: Reddit)

The idea is actually really simple. You simply take an old jam jar or something similar and fill it to the brim with 365 loving notes for your partner. The partner then picks one note out each day and gets an instant pick-me-up. The Reddit guy even colour-coded his notes so that his girlfriend could pick out whatever she fancied on that day. For example, his categories were:

My categories were pretty much identical:

1) Reasons why I love you
2) Fond memories we've shared together
3) Loving quotes that remind me of our relationship.

To ensure I had the right amount of quotes, I craftily used the numbering in Microsoft Word to make sure that I knew how many notes I'd made (it would have been a touch embarrassing if I had told my partner that I'd made 365 love notes and then it turned out I had only made 363) and then removed the numbers at the end before printing. I printed each different category out onto different coloured sheets of paper, cut the notes out, folded them up neatly and then started to fill up the jar with them.


Your reasons for loving someone can be anything. For example, some of my notes were as follows:

Cautionary Warning:

Make sure you give your jam jar to your partner before any fights or arguments. My partner and I sadly broke up before I had fully finished putting 365 love notes in my jar and I'm still a little gutted that I never got to show it to him.

Also, if you know that your partner balks at sentimental words and might find it overly-loving then I'd look elsewhere for the perfect gift. That being said, I never used to enjoy sentimentality one jot...but I'd be pretty happy to receive this from someone who truly loved me.

Cherish the love you've shared and give your partner something truly wonderful. It's so brilliant looking back over all the great moments you've shared and it really helps you to treasure what you have with your partner.  I'm sure it'll put a smile on your partner's face every morning when they dip into that jar and pull out a new note.