Apple crumble and custard: how much it costs to make, per portion
Green apples baked under a butter and demerara crumble, served with 100 ml of hot custard. Twelve portions costed from JJ Foodservice prices dated 10 October 2026; the sugars are Morrisons shelf prices from the same day.
The menu price is the one ChefSums uses for this dish on its sample pub menu, a realistic UK menu price (also on the restaurant menu £7.50). The lowest price is the one that just reaches 68% GP, the UK food GP benchmark (UKHospitality × Christie & Co, 2022: 65.9–69% food GP across every segment). It covers the ingredients at a normal margin, not staff, rent or energy, and most cafés, pubs and takeaways charge more for simple dishes. Check what places near you charge. GP is worked out on the ex-VAT price.
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Ingredients and cost, 12 portions
| Ingredient | Pack price | Pack size | Used | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green apples (whole weight) | £16.99 | 12000 g | 2400 g | £3.40 |
| Caster sugar | £4.20 | 2000 g | 120 g | £0.25 |
| Ground cinnamon | £8.99 | 390 g | 5 g | £0.12 |
| Plain flour | £12.49 | 16000 g | 450 g | £0.35 |
| Unsalted butter | £30.49 | 5000 g | 225 g | £1.37 |
| Demerara sugar | £3.30 | 1000 g | 225 g | £0.74 |
| Custard, ready to serve | £2.49 | 1000 ml | 1200 ml | £2.99 |
| Batch total | £9.22 | |||
| Per portion (÷ 12) | £0.77 | |||
Cost per line is pack price × (amount used ÷ pack size), the same sum the tool runs. Change one pack price and every line that uses it moves.
What it really costs: waste and staff time
| Ingredients | £0.77 |
| Waste allowance, 5% (trim, ends, the odd one binned) | £0.04 |
| Staff time: 30 min hands-on for the batch of 12 at £12.71/hr + 25% on-cost | £0.66 |
| Food, waste and staff per portion | £1.47 |
At the sample pub menu price (£6.25 ex VAT) that is 24% of the price, before rent, energy and everything else. Many UK sites aim to keep food plus staff (prime cost) at or under 60–65% of sales. The staff line counts hands-on prep only, not unattended cooking, and uses the April 2026 National Living Wage; put your own rate, minutes and waste in the calculator's real cost section or the prime cost calculator. Every dish side by side: the UK dish cost index.
Method
- Peel, core and slice the apples; toss with the caster sugar and cinnamon and spread in a buttered tray.
- Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs, then stir in the demerara.
- Scatter the crumble over the fruit and bake at 180 °C for 35-40 minutes until golden and bubbling.
- Cut into twelve and serve with 100 ml of hot custard.
Costing notes
The apples are costed on whole weight: at the 78% usable yield in our apple yield page, 2.4 kg as bought gives about 1.9 kg of peeled, cored fruit. Bramleys are the classic crumble apple but JJ did not list them that day; they cook down more, so allow a little extra weight.
The custard is £0.25 a portion. A pudding like this at £0.77 a portion is where a menu earns its margin, so make sure the custard jug isn't free-poured.
Where the prices came from
JJ Foodservice collection prices as shown on its public search pages on 10 October 2026 (delivery runs about £1-2 a case higher; one line JJ listed on delivery only is marked). Lines JJ did not list that day are Morrisons shelf prices from its website on the same day, marked on each line; a supermarket pack usually costs more per kilo than a wholesale case. JJ does not label VAT on most lines: raw food is zero-rated in the UK, while soft drinks, alcohol, confectionery and some ingredients carry standard-rate VAT. Your supplier's price is the one that matters: open the recipe and type it in.
- Green apples (whole weight): Green Apples 1x12kg (FRU161), 12 kg, £16.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Caster sugar: Tate & Lyle Pure Cane Caster Sugar 2kg, 2 kg, £4.20 shelf price — Morrisons (retail), accessed 2026-10-10
- Ground cinnamon: Schwartz for Chef Ground Cinnamon 1x390g, 390 g, £8.99 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Plain flour: JJ Plain Flour 1x16kg, 16 kg, £12.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Unsalted butter: Lakeland Unsalted Butter 20x250g (DAI186), 5 kg, £30.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
- Demerara sugar: Tate & Lyle Fairtrade Unrefined Demerara Pure Cane Sugar 1kg, 1 kg, £3.30 shelf price — Morrisons (retail), accessed 2026-10-10
- Custard, ready to serve: Kerrymaid Ready to Serve Custard 1x1L (CRE021), 1 L, £2.49 collection — JJ Foodservice, accessed 2026-10-10
More costed dishes: pub and restaurant classics
- Cottage pie — £1.96 a portion
- 8 oz beef burger and fries — £2.82 a portion
- Fish and chips — £4.04 a portion
- Chicken tikka masala with rice — £1.34 a portion