Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Apple Crumble

Every Tuesday night, because we have family dinner at home, I try to make it a point to make dessert, because inevitably, the kids will ask, "what's for dessert". Most kids grow up talking about their mother's cooking; I hope when mine grow up, they'll talk about, ahem, their father's cooking. For me, the undisputable culinary reference in my family is my late maternal grandmother, and I kick myself for not having the foresight to write down her recipes before she went to the light.

Anyway, since I very ambitiously went for a double gym class yesterday, (Body Pump and Body Combat, back to back), that didn't leave me very much time to make anything elaborate. I needed something wholesome, comforting with the option of turning sinful, and easy to prepare, eaten fresh out of the oven, immediately after dinner. So, when I got home at 8pm, (dinner usually starts about 8.20pm or so), it was time to hit the kitchen.

And considering the very premium prices restaurants charge for crumble, you might want to dirty your little hands a bit and try out this recipe.

Filling:

8 granny smith apples, peeled and cored, (by the maid, if you have one), and 1/8th-ed. ie, quartered, then each quarter is halved.
3 table spoons sugar - brown or yellow, black or white, they are precious in His sight
1 tablespoon cinnamon or less, depending on your penchant for cinnamon
1/2 teaspon of clove powder
1 cup raisins (my family doesn't like raisins, so this is omitted)
alternatively, the zest of one lemon

Cook the above mixture for about 8 minutes in a large pot, stirring occasionally to ensure the bottom doesn't burn. But there's lots of fluid so its unlikely you'll burn it unless you're cooking it on a hokkien mee fire. Test the apples to see if they are tender enough for your preference. Some like it firm, some like it soft.

Crumble:

2 cups flour
125gm butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

Rub in the butter into the flour & sugar, until it resembles breadcrumbs. If you have a food processor, (doesn't have to be a magimix), you can blitz together the ingredients until resembles breadcrumbs. Pour out into a mixing bowl (if from processor)

Add:
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds or almond slivers

Rub in the above ingredients. Note, feel free to add muesli, raisins, other nuts, whatever tickles your palate. The main crumble mixture should be enough to bind the crumble together.

Place apples (or if you prefer, peach and banana, which you dont even need to cook) at the bottom (obviously) of a baking dish, pyrex, corningware, about 8"x8", and sprinkle lightly (as in don't squish and squash) the crumble topping.

Bake in a 180C oven until browned. About 30 minutes. Serve with 1. Pure Cream (this is where the sin factor comes in), or, 2. Custard Sauce, or 3. Vanilla Ice cream, or ALL OF THE ABOVE. Yay.


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

We have here the crumble with a dollop of Bulla Pure Cream. Hmmm, Sinful as Hell, Good as Heaven.

And for fellow Nigella fans out there, thanks to Boolicious of Masak Masak, who sent me this precious little snippet. I'd much rather it were glad wrap (clingfilm) than aluminium foil. But then again, she is 47 oridi.

16 comments:

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

wah...u just destroyed a very healthy dessert with that cream!!..but well its meant to be rite..can i have a plate?

daphne said...

I do my apple crumble the same way u do yours... sometimes, I add chocolate bits in the crumble. :p Looks really yummy! I wouldn't mind having some!

Tracy Tan said...

aargh! your apple crumble looks so crumbly and delicious! aargh! i need to buy an oven so i can attempt this!

Anonymous said...

Yes!! Photobucket is fine! I can see every single delicious morsel of your crumble!! My favourite dessert to make because it's sooooo easy and you can get your baked butter/flour/sugar fix in a jiffy!! I must increase my crumble mix, I never get such a thick layer of crumble.

MeiyeN said...

apple crumble right after gym! :D it's sinful i thought... should give some to me lol... sweet looking and yummy!

fatboybakes said...

meiyen, actually without the cream, its pretty healthy. apples, oats, ...

kat, yeah, normally my layer of crumble isnt so thick either. just that this was for family, so i reduced the size but i think there was too much crumble. which was a fortuitous mistake.

tracy, yalar, some more you got so many nice temperate fruits. can use fresh peach, etc, etc....

daphne, for some reason, i've always resisted the idea of using choc bits in it, i dunno why. i've seen it in recipes, ...

nipples, of course you can.

Precious Pea said...

Wooooaaaa....apple crumble! I like i like. Ok, i will try out your recipe but then can i don't put the cinnamon and clove powder? I don't bake often and it doesn't make sense for me to go buy the powders just to make the crumble. How? Can ar?

teckiee said...

LOL! so this is the story with the cinnamon powder. But really.. sounds so easy to make. My dad might like bananas in it.. will try this out. Thanks for the recipe!

Tummythoz said...

A dessert churning dad. Your kids must be d envy of their peers.

Anonymous said...

in my pre-gym days when i used to bake, i made it with lots of chunky macadamia nuts in the crumble, yummy!

happy hols!

HL said...

hey i think i'm putting on weight just by looking at your pictures.

anyway i've tagged u to do a meme, you can give it a food-related twist if you like :) see blog.

wmw said...

FBB...we will present you with something in honour of your post...Stay tuned!

GFAD said...

FBB!!! That butter cake recipe is the bestest!! I used Golden Churn (brought all the way from KL..), added one extra yolk, and aitelyu... sooooo buttery, sooooo yummilicious!!! Thanks for sharing!!

fatboybakes said...

ka.t, which butter cake recipes this? i forgot liao.

wmw, how sweet, i can hardly wait.

hl, oooh, a meme...been awhile. you putting on weight coz the pics are too big and heavy?

sunshine, us peasants cant afford macadamia nuts though.

tummythoz, no, ppl normally try to correct them. "you mean your MOTHER bakes right". sheesh.

jackson, of course your food workshop one better la, how can i dare compare. i am only an amateur baker.

teckiee, ya, make la but dont be like precious pea, sit in front of oven to wait until get fever.

precious, next time we meet i'll pass you some cinnamon and clove. that's tomoro night hor.

Anonymous said...

The one you sent to me via FB. With 5 eggs.

ting said...

hello!

I tried baking an apple crumble using your recipe! I have some pictures on my blog. Thanks for the recipe :)