Apple Raspberry Crumble - scrumptiously crunchy!

This weekend was what I would call to be a very productive one. I managed to catch up with a dozen episodes of some of my favorite serials, read some boring journal articles and designed an experiment, slept for 8 hours every day and yet found time to make ice cream, lunch, dinner and finally, the crowning glory of the weekend - the apple raspberry crumble.

I love crumbles, and the best one that I had sampled was made with homemade blackberry preserves and was served with a dollop of blackberry ice cream at an inn at Mammoth Caves, KY. It was F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C! I knew that I was never going to be able to recreate that magic at home, but ever since that, I wanted to bake my own crumble.

It was a normal Sunday evening, and my room mate, as always, had slept throughout the previous night, the morning, and the afternoon. So, when he presented his scraggly self to the kitchen, random-room-mate-talk turned towards how the apples that he had bought did not live up to his sophisticated standards. Given that, and my mind's immense capability to see a dessert in everything and everything in a dessert, it took all but two seconds to decide what I was going to do with the final few hours of my weekend - get down to make that dream crumble!

APPLE RASPBERRY CRUMBLE (Serves 9-10)
Set-up Time : 15-20 minutes

Experiment Run-Time : 30 Minutes of Baking 

The Shopping List

          Set 1: For the Finger-Licking Filling
          Apples, Any kind : 4 large

          Raspberries : 1 cup, I used frozen
          Ground Cinnamon : 1/2 tsp
          Granulated Sugar : 2 Tbsp
          Lemon juice : 1 Tbsp
          Vanilla Essence : 1 tsp

          

          Set 2: For the Crunchy Topping

          All-Purpose Flour : 1 cup
          Salted Butter : 1/2 cup
          Brown Sugar/ White Sugar : 1/2 cup
          Oats : 1/2 cup (I used maple-brown sugar flavor from Kroger)
          Corn flakes : 1/3 cup (Any other cereal would do)
          Baking Powder : 1 tsp

Methodology

1. Preheat the oven to 400 °F

2. If using frozen raspberries, give them 20-30 minutes to thaw out before you put them into the filling. 

3. Peel the apples. Core them, if you have an apple corer. Else, cut them into small pieces, taking care to dispose of the stem and the seeded portions. 

4. In a large pot, place the apples, the ground cinnamon, the sugar, lemon juice and vanilla essence. Add 2 Tbsp of cold water and gently mix the ingredients so that the apples are evenly coated.

5. Cover the pot and place it on the stove. Cook the apples on medium-high heat for around 15 minutes until they are soft and gooey. Cool the filling for about 15-20 minutes. I just put mine in the freezer for 10 minutes.

6. In a separate mixing bowl, place together all the ingredients in Set 2. Now, using your fingers, mix the ingredients together, incorporating the butter into the mixture, while breaking down the corn flakes and oats into smaller particles. This is easily, the best part. In about a minute, you should have a crumbly mixture in the bowl, that is just as good when eaten raw as it is when baked!

7. Grease an 8X8 baking pan with butter and carefully empty the cooled apple mixture into the pan. Distribute the raspberries evenly among the apple filling.

8.  Once the filling is evenly laid, start sprinkling the crumbly topping mixture over the apples and raspberries. The given measurements are sufficient to make a quarter-inch deep topping. If required, gently even out the topping with your fingers.

9. Place it in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown on top. I broiled the crumble for the last 3-4 minutes. You should just about be able to see the fruit juices bubbling away at the sides.

10. Remove from the oven and cool it on the rack for 10-15 minutes before you launch your attack.

I had never baked a crumble before, but this was unbelievably simple and fool-proof. Even a middle-schooler would be able to whip up this delicacy in no time. Even my eternally-sleepy room-mate was all awake and alert, and watched on with rapt attention as I mixed up the topping. I guess there is something in a dessert that awakens the sleeping soul - mind, body, tongue and all! So, at midnight, on a Sunday, we sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labor (yes, staring at the food being prepared is labor enough for my roomie). We topped the warm crumble with the caramel ice cream (recipe coming soon) that I had whipped up yesterday, and I am still trying to recollect what followed that!