Apple And Oat Crumble

There is no pastry to go wrong here and no setting to judge, which is why crumble is the first dessert most people learn and the one most often served soggy.

The fix is two lines long: starch in the fruit, cold fat in the topping.

A crumble is judged entirely on whether the topping is crisp, and the topping is crisp only if the fat was cold and the fruit was not too wet.

Both are handled before the dish goes near the oven.