Ingredients

• 3 firm eating applesBraeburn, Cox or Pink Lady; Bramley floods a pot this small
• 25 g unsalted butterfor the filling
• 1 tbsp light brown sugarfor the filling
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 60 g plain flour
• 40 g rolled oatsrolled, not instant, which goes to paste
• 45 g light brown sugarfor the crumble
• 55 g unsalted butterfor the crumble, to be browned
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt

Method

1. 01

   Heat the oven and prepare the fruit

   Heat the oven to 190C fan / 210C conventional and put six 150 ml ramekins on a baking tray. The tray makes them easy to move and catches any syrup that bubbles over. Peel, core and dice the apples into 1 cm pieces; you want about 350 g prepared weight. Larger pieces will not soften through in the short bake.

2. 02

   Cook the filling briefly

   Melt the butter in a 24 cm frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the diced apple, brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring every minute. Stop while the pieces are glossy and just starting to take colour at the edges but still hold a sharp corner. Press one with a spoon and it should resist. They finish cooking in the oven, and apple that is already soft here will be applesauce later.

   25 g unsalted butter · 1 tbsp light brown sugar · 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon · 1 tsp lemon juice

3. 03

   Fill the pots

   Divide the apple and every drop of its syrup between the six ramekins, filling each about two-thirds, roughly 60 g per pot. Leave a clear centimetre of headroom: the crumble needs somewhere to sit, and the filling rises as it bubbles.

   Cold creme fraiche on a hot potThe whole reason for making these small. Do not skip it.

4. 04

   Brown the crumble butter

   Put the butter in a small light-coloured pan over medium heat. It will melt, foam, then quieten; keep swirling and watch the milk solids at the bottom. After 3-4 minutes they will turn hazelnut brown and the smell will change from buttery to nutty and toffee-ish. Pull it off the heat immediately, because it goes from brown to burnt in about twenty seconds, and pour it, brown bits and all, into a bowl. Leave for 5 minutes to cool to just warm.

   55 g unsalted butter

5. 05

   Make the crumble

   Add the flour, oats, brown sugar and a pinch of salt to the cooled brown butter and stir with a fork, then squeeze handfuls together and let them break apart. You are after uneven clumps between a pea and a hazelnut in size, with some loose sandy crumbs between them. If it stays sandy throughout, the butter was too hot and has soaked in. Chill the bowl for 10 minutes and squeeze again.

   60 g plain flour · 40 g rolled oats · 45 g light brown sugar

6. 06

   Top without pressing

   Pile the crumble loosely over each pot, mounding it above the rim. Do not pat it down. Compressed crumble bakes into a lid, while a loose pile lets steam escape and every cluster crisps on its own. Some will spill onto the tray; that is fine and those bits are the cook's share.

7. 07

   Bake until it bubbles

   Bake for 18-25 minutes. They are done when the tops are deep golden rather than pale or blonde, and thick apple syrup bubbles slowly up around the inside edge of each ramekin. If the tops are colouring before the edges bubble, drop to 170C fan and give them another 5 minutes. Rest for 10 minutes before eating: straight from the oven the syrup is molten enough to burn.