Less Noise, More Green: British Food (with a New England twist): Apple and Cranberry Crumble

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

British Food (with a New England twist): Apple and Cranberry Crumble



Art Girl made homemade vanilla ice cream. The perfect pairing.

Apple crumble is as British as apple pie is American. It was the first pudding (dessert) I learned to make. In fact, it was the meal I had to cook to get my Cookery Badge for Brownies (Girl Scouts). I remember practicing making it at home, then going to a lady's house in our village,whom I did not know, to cook it completely unassisted, while she watched and graded me. I was around ten years old. I was very nervous but I passed and got my badge.

Crumbles can be made with any fruit. The only adjustment needed would be the amount of sugar, depending on the tartness of the fruit, and the amount of lemon juice, depending on the tendency of the fruit to brown. In this version I added cranberries, which are native to New England, and are about to be in season. I love the sweet and tart marriage of the apples and cranberries.



The cranberries I added to this crumble I froze last fall. I need to use them up to make room for the fresh ones I will freeze in a few weeks. The apples are from the local orchard we visited last month. I peeled, cored and quartered them in groups of five apples, then froze them. I pull the bag from the freezer about 30 minutes before I start to make the crumble. All I have to do is place the apples in the dish with the cranberries and I'm good to go. If the apples are still very frozen when they go into the oven, you may need to add another ten minutes to the baking time.

Apple and Cranberry Crumble

1 1/2 cups of flour
1 cup of brown sugar
6 oz cold unsalted butter

5 apples, peeled, cored and quartered (fresh or frozen)
1 cup of cranberries (fresh or frozen)
2 table spoons of lemon
1/2 cup of white sugar

Raw sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


Put the flour and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and add to the flour. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs.




Butter or spray a baking dish and add the apples and cranberries. Mix in the lemon juice and the sugar. Spread the fruit evenly in the dish. Spoon the flour and butter crumbs over the top, making sure all the fruit is covered. Sprinkle with raw sugar.



Bake for 30-40 minutes until the top is brown and the fruit is bubbling up around the sides.



Let the crumble cool for a few minutes before eating. Delicious either hot or cold, I prefer mine hot, paired with ice cream.




For supper tonight I made chicken soup. The remnants of a roast chicken, homemade chicken stock, and carrots, kale, tomatoes, yellow squash and peppers from the garden. I added some wild rice for substance. Soul satisfying and nutritious. It is meals like this that make all the hard work in the garden worth it.

I love you Autumn.

Sue



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