Baking Apple Crumble

My mom is to blame for my sharing this recipe with all of you. She has been walking around for the past week, saying how much she craved a proper Apple Crumble. Say it often enough, and we all join in the craving. The apple tree is heavy with brand new apples, but there are no ripe ones yet. I went in search of some leftover bottled apples from the previous seasons and was thrilled to find some. Add two sprigs of rhubarb from the garden, and in no time at all, we had a delicious apple crumble to feast on.

Start by combining your dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. You will need a cup (250 ml) cake flour and a teaspoon (5 ml) salt. Mix this well. Measure 50 ml (50 g) butter.

Grate the butter into the dry ingredients and use your fingers to rub it into the flour until it takes on a crumbly consistency.

Add ice cold water by the spoonful until the dough comes together.

Your dough is ready when you can form it into a pliable ball.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Keep turning the dough over, or it will stick to the surface. Flour your cake pin as well to keep the dough from sticking to it.

Roll the dough onto the rolling pin.

Unroll the dough onto a tart plate that has been treated with a non-stick coating.

Simply fold the ends of the dough in to make a double-thick crust. This is actually quite delicious in an apple crumble.

Use your fingers to create a pretty finish to the dough.

Use a fork to poke air vents in the bottom of the tart dough. When you bake it, the hot air will be able to escape. Trapped air will cause your tart to rise up and form huge bubbles. Place the dough in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the tart, approximately 30 minutes.

We will now prepare the crumble that goes on top of the pie. Add a cup (250 ml) flour in the same mixing bowl that you used before. No need for extra dishes. Add 1/2 teaspoon (2,5 ml) salt, 3 tablespoons (37,5 ml) brown sugar, a teaspoon (5 ml) cinnamon powder and 1/2 teaspoon (2,5 ml) nutmeg.

Mix the dry ingredients well.

Measure 50 g (50 ml) butter.

Grate the butter into the dry ingredients and then use your fingers to crumble the mixture.

When your mixture has a crumbly consistency, you can put it in the fridge to rest.

Now we need to prepare the filling. Measure 1/2 cup (125 ml) raisins and add them to a medium sized pot.

I used to sprigs of rhubarb that I found in the garden. Rhubarb is very tart and breaks the sweetness of the pie slightly. The apple cancels the sourness of the rhubarb and the two work very well together. However, if you can not get your hands on rhubarb, simply leave it out. You may consider adding the zest and juice of one lemon instead. Chop the rhubarb finely and add it to the pot.

I added 2 cups (500 ml) of canned apples, drained, to the pot. You will note that my apples are the smaller pieces that were never meant to be seen by the public. If yours is not, you may want to chop them smaller before adding them to the pot.

I then add 1 cup (250 ml) fresh cream (you can use milk instead), 4 tablespoons (50 ml) brown sugar, 1 teaspoon (5 ml) cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon (2,5 ml) nutmeg, and ...

a pinch (2 ml) fine cloves.

Bring the mixture to the boil on the stove top, stirring continuously.

Add 4 tablespoons (50 ml) cake flour and stir vigorously to prevent clumps.

You can turn the heat off before adding the flour. The mixture will thicken because of the heat already present in the ingredients. I will continue to thicken while baking.

Add 1/2 cup (125 ml) nuts (preferably pecans, but whatever you have in the house will do) just before scooping the filling into the tart base.

Bake the tart base for 10-15 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 °C.

Remove from the oven and scoop the filling into the base.

Cover the pie with the dough crumbs.

Return the pie to the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 °C.

Serve hot with custard or ice-cream.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
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Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
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