Sunday, October 09, 2005


apple crumble object

so mr. right returned from a work-related dinner to say that the only decent thing he'd had was an old-timey peach cobbler. i had no idea he liked cobbler; cobbler i can do!

oh yeah! this being an apple season now and not a peach one, i immediately imagined myself running out the farmers' market to pick up a nice mixture of heirloom cooking apples, some calvados, a few currants, french butter, ground almonds. . . .making my ultra-decadent all-cream bourbon vanilla ice cream for the top. . .

but no. all rejected.

cobbler/crumble/crisp things should be "simple," i was told. what, i replied indignantly, could be simpler than upstate heirloom apples and french butter?

so in the end i settled for 3 rome apples and 2 golden delicious from the local market. i insisted on the french butter, however, and used whole wheat flour for the crumble topping.

i also snuck in some bourbon vanilla powder! oh yeah, and i finally found a decent use for that splenda baking sugar mix stuff i had left over from last brownie experiment. . .

in the end i nearly wept when tasting the rome apples, which seemed so woody and tasteless to me raw. and the recipe was idiot-simple:

3 rome apples, 2 golden delicious, peeled, cut into 16ths and chunked coarsely
1/3 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup splenda baking mix
2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon flour (to soak up some of the juices, optional but suggested; or use a little cornstarch)

1 cup whole wheat flour
8 tablespoons french butter, well-chilled and cubed
1/2 cup splenda baking mix
pinch cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

pre-heat the oven to 350 and dig out your 8x8 brownie pan or 9-in. pie plate. spray it with baker's joy.

in your pan or pie plate, toss to mix apples, brown sugar, vanilla powder, splenda mix, cinnamon, flour. in a bowl, mix whole wheat flour, butter, splenda, cinnamon, baking soda.

with your fingers work this whole wheat mixture until the butter falls into to corn-flake size pieces, or if you like it sandier, into coarse cornmeal size bits. spread this thickly on top of apples.

bake for 45-55 minutes until apples are tender. serve hot with the best vanilla ice cream you can get your hands on.

alas, i report that this was a fantastic success. it didn't taste too bad, really.

but! imagine what the calvados/currant/heirloom apple extravaganza could have been! i could have served it with vanilla-almond-clove ice cream!

as long as mr. right was happy. . .that's what's important yes? cooking is like writing, to paraphrase gertrude stein: we do it for ourselves and other people.

today it was more for the "other. . ." i'll get the fancy version next time. . .

posted by fortune | 2:47 PM | top | link to this | email this: | | | 5 comments