This is a quick and easy crust to make, and is well suited for cream pies and frozen pies.

Ingredients:

• 170 g/6 oz digestive biscuit crumbs (approximately 11 digestive biscuits crushed in a food processor
• 70 g/2½ oz unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
• 1 tablespoon plain flour

Method:

Preheat the oven to 175°C/350°F/Gas mark 4. Combine all the ingredients until they are well blended. Press evenly into a 23-cm/9-inch pie dish, beginning in the center and working outwards, until the crust covers the bottom and sides of the dish. If you find your fingers are too sticky to do the job nicely, wrap them in plastic wrap and then proceed. Alternatively, you can dust your fingers with sugar as required. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Basic Crumb Crust Variations:

• Chocolate Wafer Crumb crust: prepare the basic crumb crust recipe, replacing the digestive biscuit crumbs with 115 g/4 oz chocolate wafer crumbs.
• Gingersnap Crumb Crust: prepare the basic crumb crust recipe, replacing the digestive biscuit crumbs with 115 g/4 oz gingersnap crumbs.
• Light Crumb Crust: prepare the basic crumb crust recipe, reducing the amount of unsalted butter to 1 tablespoon and adding 1 large egg white to the crumb mixture.
• Shortbread Crumb Crust: prepare the basic crumb crust recipe, replacing the digestive biscuit crumbs with 125 g/4½ oz shortbread fingers, crushed.