Apple Crumble

Hey guys!

How are you?

As you may know, autumn is the Apple Season, so today I'm going to show you how to prepare an easy an quick apple crumble.

Sometimes you need a sweet apple dessert, or in your breakfast, but an Apple Pie it's too much right now, you don't want to prepare the crust. Same with an Apple Tart.
But there is something easier and (maybe) even better!

This apple crumble mixes my favorite kinds of apple. The bright and green Granny Smith, the big and dark Red Delicious and the sweet Gala.
Mixing different kinds of apples allows you to adjust the sugar to your own preference. The tanginess of Granny Smith will balance the sweetness from Gala.

But, of course, you can use whatever you can get in your supermarket. Or even better if you can pick the apples from your own Apple Tree.

Prepare some vanilla ice cream to put on top of your crumble, or even this amazing Salted or Not Caramel Sauce (see the recipe in my spanish blog).

Let's get started!

Apple Crumble

INGREDIENTS

        Crumble Topping

· 1/2 cup (65g) of all purpose flour
· 1/2 cup (100g) of brown sugar

· 6 tbsp 85g of cold butter

· 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

· 1/4 tsp of salt

· 1 cup of oats

· 1 cup of nuts (almonds, pecans, hazelnuts... you choose)

     Apple Filling

· 4 1/2 cups of apple pieces

· 2 tbsp of sugar

· 1 tsp of lemon juice

· 1 tsp of cornstarch 
· 1/8 tsp of salt
· 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon
· 1 tsp of ground nutmeg
· 1 tsp of ground ginger

METHOD

You are going to love this recipe if you have never tried it.
First thing you have to do is preparing the crust. It consists on a Streusel topping with oats and nuts.
In a food processor combine the flour, salt, brown sugar and cinnamon for a few seconds. Then add the cold butter cut in small pieces. Cold butter mixes so much better into the flour. You have to pulse your processor until the mixture resembles wet sand. Pieces can be as big as peas, you won't get a a big clump of dough. Now is time to transfer the dough to a bowl and mix the oats and the nuts. You have to chop your nuts in little pieces and if you want a deeper flavor, you can place them into the oven for five minutes. The heat will bring the flavors up. Once you mix all together, place it into the fridge while preparing the apples.


Now it's time to start preheating the oven to 190ºC (375ºF).

For the apples, peel them and cut them into "half-moon" slices of 0.5cm (0.2 inches) of thickness. Place them into a big ball and add the rest of the ingredientes, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, salt and the three spices (if you want, you can also put 1/2 tsp of ground allspice). Mix them all together with a wooden spoon or a spatula. Make sure that the apples are very well covered with all the spices and cornstarch.

Two things to say. If you prefer your crumble with a little bit of juice on the bottom, just leave out the cornstarch as it will be a thickener. Second thing to say is a twist on this basic recipe, you an also add a cup of blueberries (fresh or frozen) to the apple mixture, I really love that.

Place the apples in your baking dish, casserole or pie dish, whatever you are using. Cover them with the crumble topping, don't leave any apple without topping. Make sure the whole surface is very well covered. It will help to bake the apples faster.

Place your baking dish into the oven, on the lower third of the oven, for 35 to 45 minutes. You will notice that is done when you can see bubbles around the edge of the dish and the crumble is brown.

Serve it in a little bowl with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream on top.

Enjoy!