As far as I am concerned, a soft apple is a cooking apple. (Pears, according to 2 people this household, are best eaten soft, but that is a whole other story.)
Years ago I collected a little recipe book that had been published by the Health Department with fabulous suggestions for getting more fruit and veg into the diets of kiddoes. My favourite from this booklet was the Apple and Rhubard Crumble. The crumble mix on top is fabulous and suitable to any type of fruit.
I remembered that the recipe included rolled oats and honey along with other typical crumble recipes but the quantities had all been forgotten (Oh my. Is there a pattern emerging?)
If you have ever Googled 'apple crumble recipe' you will know that if someone gave you a dollar for every result, you would just about be a millionaire.
Reading through, it was easy to disregard many of the options. With the amount of sugar and butter some of these required, I could make an 'Old Boot Crumble' taste fabulous.
I decided on this recipe (p. 15) as it included simple ingredients in decent amounts. The sultanas were omitted as I didn't have any.
The smell of cooking apples is one of those aromas that just takes me back to being a kid again. Mum would make her own pasty for an apple pie and it would be decorated with pastry leaves on top.
It cooked maybe a little too long and was not one of my küche success stories, but everyone attacked the backing dish vigorously within minutes of it emerging from the oven. By the time dinner was over and we were ready for our fruity dessert there had been some serious dents made.
I know that leaving the skins on for an apple crumble is probably a big no-no, but I can't see that wonderful part of the fruit be discarded.
Within a day or two, after additions of the apple to breakfast and afternoon snacks, the dish was empty.
So my question (plea) to you is how do you make your crumble topping?
Take care
Looking good! Yum!
ReplyDeleteI've only made crumble once (!) actually, which is a shame - maybe I should make it more often because it's a great dessert. The crumble I made was a pear/blackcurrant crumble. It was very tasty :)
Blessings,
This Good Life
I often make curmble to use up fruit when it has gone soft or there is half a tin of something left. When Rhubarb is on special I dice it and freeze it so I have it on had to add a handfull to apples to dress it up. I make my crumble topping up as I go along but it usually contains Wheatbix crumbled up, rolled oats, flour, cinnamon or other spices, butter and sugar. Sometimes I just use whatever breakfast cereal is on hand and sometimes I add slithered almonds or coconut.
ReplyDeleteTGL, pear and blackcurrant sounds fabulous. I love the way that pears cook. So sweet. It goes so well with some yummy vanilla icecream or freshly whipped cream. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteFiona, it is so much better than throwing the fruit into the compost. I hadn't thought of freezing chopped rhubarb. You have some great combinations there. I hadn't thought of cinnamon either. (Zimt in Deutsch) I even have some in the cupboard.
I usually eyeball my topping and keep my fillings traditional. This year I have so far done rhubarb (recipe is posted on my blog) and peach, and apple will be coming very soon. I like to put cinnamon and nutmeg in my topping along with the butter, oats, flour, and sugar. Dark brown sugar is the best, gives it a nice molasses flavour. Nothing beats a simple apply crumble hot with some vanilla ice cream, pure heaven! I love your casserole dish by the way, adorable!
ReplyDeleteBrenna
I love brown sugar in a crumble topping too, Brenna. The way it melts adds such an amazing flavour. I think I will need to do a little experimenting to get the quantities just right.
ReplyDeleteThe dish is lovely, unfortunately not mine. : (
Nothing better than the humble crumble. I never stick to a recipe for crumble, just adapt with what you have and what the dessert is following. Heavier dinner= honey, no sugar crumble. Lighter dinner= pass me the butter and brown sugar please. I love almonds, either chucky or blitzed to meal as well in it.
ReplyDeleteCHFG, almonds and other nuts seem to be a bit of a favourite. This isn't something I have tried before. Must get hold of some. Yummy crunchiness.
ReplyDelete