Apple Crumble

With all the chocolate and peanut butter and caramel going on around here and on the blog, even I'm getting tired of it and am itching for something fruity, and dare I say, healthy? That's why I was so grateful for the apples that SMB had so diligently collected from mealtime leftovers, with the express purpose of being baked. (This being the oft repeated condition that as long as you bring me some raw ingredient to bake with, I will make whatever you want!) So apple crumble it was! Simple yet homey, warming and satisfying. Sliced apples with some apple juice, some sugar, spice and thickener go into a dish and are topped with crumble. Easy! The intensity of the appley scent was so.. comforting, for lack of a better word. Oh, and inviting, too. In fact the scent of this crumble baking drew a whole line of students in seconds and the pan emptied even faster than that. I barely tasted a slice of apple! Thrilled to have something fruity and not so cloying, my craving was satisfied. It was so good! This week we have a three day trip coming up to the North of Israel, the Golan and the Galilee. That means that I'll be away and not posting. Don't miss me too much!

Apple Crumble

adapted from KAF Baker's Companion

Filling:

3 pounds apples, use any combination or one variety

1/4 cup apple juice

2 tbsp margarine, melted

dash vanilla

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

3 tbsp tapioca flour

1/4 tsp salt

Crumble Topping:

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup quick cooking oats

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp baking powder

8 tbsp margarine

Preheat your oven to 350. Have ready a 9 inch deep dish pie plate or a 9x9 inch cake pan. Set aside.

Peel, core, and slice the apples. Place into a bowl.
To this, add all of the filling ingredients.
Stir vigorously to combine,
and pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Set aside while you assemble the crumb topping.
In a bowl, place all of the ingredients, except the margarine.
Stir together.
Add the margarine in pieces and rub together with your fingers until crumbly. Don't overmix, you want some nice big pieces and small ones, too.
Sprinkle evenly over the apples.Bake for about sixty-seventy minutes until golden brown and bubbly and delicious. Serve with ice cream or not. Let cool to lukewarm before serving.