Apple Crumble Revisited
October 27, 2006 at 10:51 AM
by Ashleigh
Apples for Apple Crumble
It's been a hive of activity here, a hive, I tell you. Well, not really. But it has been school holidays which means the constant to-ing and fro-ing is a little less which gives me a little more time to do important things.
Like make 8 apple crumbles.
Remember we went to the apple farm a few weeks back? I still had apples from there, and I had more apples arrive in my organic fruit and veg bag, and somehow I bought some more apples in the supermarket. A glut of apples.
When the fruit flies started to gather I decided it was best that I make something with them real fast, preferably something that I could freeze. Apple crumble it was.
No pretty picture of the finished product here because they were all destined for the freezer. The picture you see above is of the apples after being sauted and prior to the crumble mixture being placed over the top. I used the same recipe for the basis that I posted about here, except that it now has changes which I think make it much better.
So, the recipe:
Apple Crumble (adapted from Hamlyn's Family Cookbook by Margeurite Patten)
The Crumble Mix
For every half a kilo (1 lb) of prepared (peeled, cored and quartered) apples you will need a crumble mixture made by rubbing 2 oz (50g or 1/4 cup) butter or margarine into 4 oz (100g, 1 cup) flour until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add 3 oz (75 g, generous 1/3 cup) sugar to that mixture and run your hands through to mix thoroughly. You can use a mixture of flours. I'm trying to get more variety of grains into my kids so for these crumbles I used half buckwheat and half ordinary white flour. You could try spelt flour, wholewheat, whatever.
I tried using a food processor for the crumble and it doesn't seem to come out with the same texture, but if you wanted to do it in the processor you would put the flour into the processor and then drop in the cubes of butter using the pulse function
until just mixed and finally add the sugar through the feed tube, and pulse until mixed.
The Fruit
I changed the recipe from the original by gently sauteing the apples in about half a tablespoon of butter over a moderate heat. While the apples are over the heat, sprinkle them with cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice to taste. For Dutch readers - I used 'koek en speculaas kruiden' instead of the mixed spice. I used quite a lot of spices, but you should use as much as you feel comfortable with.
Add about three tablespoons of sugar to the apples and keep turning them. The sugar mixture will start to caramelise and turn a golden brown. The more sugar you add the more caramel you'll get. Add a handful of raisins. I used mixed golden and normal raisins - very pretty! I was thinking how nice this would be adding just a bit of crystallised orange or lemon. Maybe next time. The apples should brown slightly and just start to soften. You don't want them to get too soft.
Turn out into dishes. I use individual ovenproof lasagne dishes that serve four very small portions. If I make bigger portions we just eat all of it, so smaller dishes are the way to go.
Sprinkle the crumble over the fruit, neaten with a knife and bake for approximately 35 minutes in the centre of a very moderate to moderate oven (325 - 350F, 170 - 180C) until firm and golden brown.
If you plan to freeze the crumbles, like I do, then after sprinkling on the crumble mixture, cover the dishes with foil and clingwrap and mark with the date. Freeze and bake from frozen as above.
A quantity made with 1 lb of fruit serves four generously. Top with custard, creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy!
Comments
Fruit flies! Oh, they drive me crazy. I get them sometimes when I buy bananas. Is there any way to prevent them?
The apple crumble sounds delicious!
Dee
That looks so good
I made some, too! But I didn't know I could freeze it - thanks for the tip!!
Same apple-invasion here (and the proverbial rotten one too). So far I've made apple sauce, apple pie, raisin-apple bread, apple in filo... no crumble yet, do you freeze them in the oven dishes or do you repack when frozen?
I looks yuummie!! I Will try it!!,in a cold day!!
Yhanks!!
Oh man, when last did I see somebody referring to the Hamlyn Family Cookbook?? Cue waves of homesickness... Your crumble sounds divine - I usually prefer crumbles to pies in fact. And one of the few good things about London is the lack of insects - fruit flies, cockroaches et al. Although (bizarrely) we are plagued by mosquitoes in the summer in our suburb, but I gather that's rather unusual ;-)
Looks good to me! I have one lone gnat in the kitchen that has escaped me so far. I think he's come in with the bag of onions I bought this week. So anoying! Those fruit flies are just as frustrating - hope they have all disappeared by now. Such a good excuse to bake though :)
October 27, 2006 3:59 PM