Apple/Pear Crumble Round Up

It is apple season!  I love apples, I pretty much have one every day.   I haven't gone picking yet because my favorite apple has not peaked.  I am a fan of the Jonagold apple and it is a late September apple.  It is a mix of Jonathan and Golden Delicious.  It was two years ago that I got hooked on them.   I personally think they are the best, so I am looking forward to getting a few large baskets. I am looking forward to making sauce, baking and eating.

Do you have a favorite apple?

To me an apple crumble is an apple must.  It is simple, crunchy, sweet and delicious.  It is just apples and crumbly goodness.  The crumble part can take on so many different forms which makes it even more fun.  I honestly probably make some form of apple crumble 2-3 times a year.  For me it never gets old.  Get me a big scoop of crumble with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and I am set.

Maple Cheddar Apple Crumble

 A few facts about me.


1. One year ago I did not like hot drinks, mostly coffee and tea. The taste of both were just so unappealing to me.  Even hot chocolate was hit or miss.  I actually drank that with a spoon.

2. Present day I now drink green tea on a daily basis and actually enjoy it.  Coffee is still on the no way list.  Weird?  During my last trimester of pregnancy my naturopath gave me this special tea that was supposed to help with uterine health etc.   Since I am a good patient I did what she said and drank it every day.   This tea slowly broke me down.  It was not the best tasting tea so I think when I have other teas now they are quite good.    The funny thing is for the last week, I get my water hot, pop in the tea bag, put my cup on the table near the couch and forget.   I have done this five days in a row.   I am seriously losing my ability to remember.

3. My new favorite sound is laughing baby.  I just can't get enough of it.

4. I make an apple crumble almost every major holiday.  I love to try different versions every now and then and decided to for Easter.  Since cheddar and apple are common combination I thought I would try and throw some in the mix.

Caramel Apple Crumble Cheesecake

So apparently I am so out of it.   I didn't even realize it has been over a week since I last posted.  Not that I have done nothing the last week,  I have almost been non stop.    My birthday was Friday, so I spent the day over the border shopping with my sister and her friend.  I managed to pick up some baby clothes, some clothes for me and a playpen.   I have yet to find Biscoff spread,  what aisle does that normally sit in?  Do they sell it at Target?

The rest of the weekend involved multiple family dinners for Thanksgiving, cleaning and finishing up the nursery.  I got all my decals and photos up on the walls so now I just need to add a few small accessories and buy some drapes.  It's all coming together...just a few more weeks until baby.

This week also involved my yearly addiction to check out Cirque du Solieli.   This years show was called Amaluna.   This was the 6th Cirque show I have seen.  I find them hard to pass up when they are in town.  The shows are always so creative and unique and the performers are quite simply amazing.  I can't even imagine the training they must go through.   Just crazy.  Unfortunately this one was not my favorite or close to it. . Given my wide comparison range I just felt the acts in this one, although still impressive were not a big as I have seen at others.  The clowns were also more annoying than funny.   I think my favorite so far was either La Nouba, (Disney World) or Mystere (Las Vegas).   I highly recommend both if you are ever in either of these places, although Vegas as several others that I hear are quite cool.   Anyone have any favorite cirques they would recommend?

With all the family dinners that were going on this weekend I did manage to get some baking done.   One great one and one fail.  The great one would be this post, the fail would be a bubble bread loaf that rose beautifully and then somehow just died in the oven.  Frustrating!


Apple Crumble Caramel Cheesecake

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

• 2 cups vanilla wafer or graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Cheesecake

• 4 large apples
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2-3 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 - 8oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Your favorite caramel sauce

Crumble

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/3 cup butter,  cool but slightly softened

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350F.   Combine crumbs and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  Add melted butter and mix to combine and coat the crumbs.  Press into a 9 inch springform pan, lined with parchment.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Set aside and let cool.
2) Peel and core the apples. Chop into slices.  Toss with lemon juice.  In a medium saute pan, on medium heat at butter.  Once melted add apples, brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for about 5-8 minutes until apples sofften but are not mush.   Remove from heat and set aside.

3) Make the crumble :   In a large bowl combine all the crumble ingredients except the butter.  Mix together.  Then cut in the butter with your hands.  The mixture will darken and be slightly combined and clumped together in small pieces.

4) In a food processor, add cream cheese (in chunks) and granulated sugar.  Process until almost smooth, chunks are broken down.   Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla and process until well combined. Scraping down the sides as needed.
5) Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease the sides of the pan with butter, 3/4 of the way up.  Take 2/3 of the apples and put on top of the crust.   Drizzle with caramel sauce.  Top with 1/4 cup of crumble.
6) Cover the apples with the cheesecake mixture and smooth out.
7) Bake the cheesecake on the middle rack for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 300F and bake for 35-40 minutes.  Turn off the oven and let the cheesecake sit for 20 minutes in the oven.  It is okay if the cheesecake cracks, it get completely covered.  Remove from oven to cool further.
8)  Preheat the oven to 400F. When the cheesecake has come back to room temperature.  Top with remaining apples in the center, drizzle with more caramel sauce and cover with the crumble.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the crumble has started browning.
9) Let cool before slicing.  Drizzle with more caramel sauce when serving.

I honestly was a little worried about how this would turn out but I was so pleasantly surprised.   Even my Dad thought it was quite good and he is a hard dessert person to impress.   The process to get this done can be a little lengthy but well worth it.

MEG's RATING : D-EEEEE-LICIOUS.

Check out Sweet Bella Roos link up party for other "Pin" worthy recipes.

Nectarine Cherry Crumble

UGGH!  Is all I have to say.  This week has been exhausting.  I worked 4 10 hour days and then today wasn't a short as I was hoping.   Every night I got home and after a walk outside or my work out I really just wanted to sit and do nothing.  I also don't want to sit in front of a computer anymore after 10 hours of screen starting so my ability to sit and write this post was non existent.   I don't know why I seemed surprise I have been in finance for almost 10 years now you think I would get used to budget season.   Every year it is still no fun.    In short I am really happy it is Friday and looking forward to what I think will be a fairly relaxing weekend.  Some furniture shopping, some baking and maybe a movie.  I can already see myself de-stressing.    Next week is also a short work week for me as we will be at the Cottage for an extended long weekend with some friends.  Cottage weekends always lead to some baking and blog posts so I should be back on track soon.

In my continued love for cherries and my new love for nectarines,  I combined them for this quick dessert.   I like when nectarines and peaches are hard as opposed to soft,  I like pears that way too.   Much easier to eat.

Nectarine Cherry Crumble

INGREDIENTS:

Crumble

• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup flaked oats
• 2/3 brown sugar
• 1/2 cup hemp hearts
• 1/2 chopped almonds
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened. 

Fruit

• 2 cups pitted cherries, havled
• 2 small nectarines, chopped 
• 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) In a large bowl combine all crumble ingredients except the butter and mix together.  
2) Work in the butter to the crumble mixture so it darkens and clumps together.

3) In another bowl combine the two fruits, add cornstarch, sugar and cinnamon and mix together. 

4) Place fruit mixture in a 8-9 inch round souffle dish.   Add the crumble, mixing some of it into the fruit, leaving enough to cover the top.  

5) Bake at 375F for 40-45 minutes.   Fruit will be bubbling, top will be golden.  Serve warm!

MEG's RATING: D-EEEE-LICIOUS!

Pear Cherry Crumble Pie

Did anyone watch the Golden Globes last night?  I sat here staring at my screen for quite some time not writing any thing.   Every time I tempted to write something I lost my train of thought and then got distracted again by pretty dresses and handsome men.

Something about pears..don't remember, George Clooney arrived.  Dried Cherries, blah blah, don't remember Adam Levine showed up.   And then I was laughing at Ricky Gervais.   Not mean and still funny.

Back to crumble pies...,  I love any kind of crumble.  Any fruit, any nut,  bring it on.   Crumbles are easy,  almost impossible to screw up, sweet, tart, nutty and crunchy all in one bite.  What's not to love?

What are your favorite crumble flavours?

Pear Cherry Crumble Pie
(adapted from Fine Cooking)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Pie Crust - pre-made or homemade (whatever you have time for - mine was pre-made)

Crumble

• 1/2 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, cubed

Filling

• 4-5 Barlett pears, peeled, chopped & cubed
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Combine dry crumble ingredients in a medium bowl and mix together.  Add butter and mix together with your hands, mixing together moistening the crumble.   It will get darker as the butter is absorbed.

2) Combine all filling ingredients in a bowl and toss together to coat the pears with the
sugar/cinnamon.

3) Take 1/2 cup of the filling and mix it in with the pears.   Add filling to the pie dough.

4) Top the pie with remaining crumble.  Bake @ 350F for 50 minutes on a baking sheet.
5) Let cool slightly, serve warm with ice cream.    Pie can be reheated if not served right away.

And all the remained was an empty silver tin.  This might be one of my favorite combinations to date.  This might have to replace my holiday apple crumble.

MEG's RATING - D-EEEEE-LICIOUS

Cranberry Apple Crumble Squares

I don't bake too often with cranberries.  At least not too often with fresh cranberries, dried I have used many times.    I don't usually notice them in the grocery store when I am walking through.   The other day though they caught my eye and I bought them.   I didn't really know what I would do with them when I got home, I had not thoought that far in the process.  I just knew I wanted them.    So to be honest they did sit in my fridge for over a week.  Every time I opened the drawer they secretly whispered "bake with me."

In my efforts to get all my food magazines re-organized I started to go through them, trying to figure out why I saved them and tearing out the recipes I wanted to keep.   In this process I came across the above mentioned Cranberry Apple Crumble Squares.  The picture of these squares was so just bright and colourful.  This recipe will be my first attempt with fresh cranberries.   Tuesday night I was all set to bake and realized the recipe called for leftover whole cranberry sauce. I didn't have that so I improvised and made my own version.

(Adapted from Food and Drink)
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large apple
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 1/2 lemon - juiced
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose
• 3/4 cup quick oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter

Sauce

• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Make the sauce : Combine 1 cup fresh cranberries, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan.  Heat on medium until cranberries begin to pop and become more liquid.  In a tiny bowl whisk together cornstarch and water and add to the cranberry mixture.   Whisk together and stir until mixture begins to thicken.  Reduce heat to low and cook a few more minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

2) Spray with non stick spray or grease a 8 inch square pan.  Preheat oven to 350F
3) Peel, core and slice the apple.  Combine with cranberries, sauce, granulated sugar and lemon in a medium bowl.  Toss together.

4) Combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, mix together.  Blend in the butter with your fingers until crumbly. Mixture will appear darker.

5)  Press half the mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Cover the base with apple/cranberry mixture.

6) Add the remaining crumble over the top of the fruit, pressing down gently. It will not cover the fruit completely.

7) Bake until top is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.  Store in the refrigerator.

My first fresh cranberry attempt was a success.   I was really happy with the sauce as well.  It was tart and sweet, just like the bars.   I am definitely going to experiment with making sauce again for the holidays.  

I still have a cup of cranberries left though.   What do I bake with them? Any suggestions?

MEG's RATING : D-EEEEE-LICIOUS!

Peach Blueberry Crumble Inside Pie

I know I already did a peach tart this month but it's so hard not to utilize all the wonderful peaches in season.   They just stare at you at the markets and groceries stores in their cute little baskets.  Buy me, I'm Juicy, they are secretly telling me.   Since my focus this month is pies,  I figure there is no harm in attempting to do another one.  This pie however I will  give to my Dad, who is a big peach fan. He also happens to be a crumble fan. I wanted to actually give this pie a dough lid, so to speak,  but still give Dad a hint of crumble.  I decided to sneak some crumble on the inside of this pie.   The recipe was adapted from the Food Network Canada August Cooking Club Challenge.  Here is my version with a few sweet twists.


INGREDIENTS:

Dough

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled
• 1/3 cup lard, cut into pieces and chilled
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoon vodka

Filling

• 8 peaches, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour (for crumble)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
• 1 egg, mixed with 2 tbsp cold water, for brushing

INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Make the dough: Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until the texture of coarse meal.

2) Mix together water and vodka and add to flour. Using a wooden spoon and then your hands (trying not to warm the dough too much) blend until dough just comes together. Shape dough into a disc and chill for at least 30 minutes.

3) Preheat oven to 350 F.  Divide dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 piece of dough to 1/4-inch thick. Line a 9-inch pie pan with pastry.  Trim the hanging edges with a small knife.  Chill dough while preparing filling.

4) Make the filling: Toss peaches and blueberries with granulated sugar, 3 tbsp flour, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg.

5) Make the inside crumble : Combine oats, brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour and cinnamon.  Add butter, combing and moistening the mixture with your hands.  Mixture will darken as it moistens.
6) Combine crumble mixture with peach mixture.  Spoon this mixture into pie pan.
7) Roll out second piece of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out your desired shapes or pattern using cookie/fondant cutters.  If you don't want a shape, do at least 3 small holes to allow air out.
8) Carefully roll up the crust and gently unroll over the peaches - trying to get the pattern over the center.   Trim off the excess dough and crimp together the edges with a fork. Brush pie with egg wash

9) Bake for 50-55 minutes on a baking sheet (to catch drips) until golden brown.  Set on a wire rack for 10 minutes to cool slightly.  Serve warm or at room temperature

The good thing about being a food blogger is the requirement for some nice photos which requires me to cut the pie and take a slice out.   That is also another bonus of baking a pie for your Dad, he won't really mind if there is a small piece missing.   I like to think of it as quality control.

This pie was super.  The inside crumble wasn't crunchy, obviously since it was hidden under the pie crust.  It did however give the pie a nice nutty, brown sugar sweet flavour, which I rather enjoyed.

MEG's RATING: D-EEEE-LICIOUS
DAD's RATING : SAME

Strawberry Pie one on me.

It's August already.  The summer has flown by so fast and before I know it I will be shocked it is September.  My sister asked me to make her a strawberry pie for a BBQ she was having and this gave me an idea. I am going to dedicate the month of August to PIES and TARTS!   If you haven't seen Martha Stewart's Pie and Tart book, you need to check it out.  There are so many fabulous looking desserts.  Page after page of mouth watering pie/tart goodness. They all look good but do they all taste good?  This month you and I will both find out.  I am going to do my best to bake quite a few from this book.  Don't worry,  I am sure I will still have several ice creams and other desserts to throw in the blogging mix but there will be quite a lot of pies coming your way.   To start, the strawberry pie requested by my sister.   This is not actually a Martha pie, this comes from the food network magazine care of Emeril Lagasse.  I loved the look of this pie, sort of like a deep dish pizza filled with fruit and topped with a crumble.  This pie involves some waiting time so be prepared when you plan on making this. 

Strawberry Crumb Pie

(Adapted from Food Network)

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

• 1/2 cup (4oz) cold unsalted butter
• 3 oz cold cream cheese
• 1 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose
• pinch of salt

Crumb

• 3/4 cup oatmeal
• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Filling

• 6 cups (2 lbs) hulled, quartered strawberries
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 2 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp grated orange zest

INSTRUCTIONS:

Make the Crust

1) Add butter and cream cheese to a food processor and process until smooth. 

2) Add the flour and salt and process again until the dough comes together and forms a ball. 

3) Scrap out the dough, form it into a disk and wrap in saran wrap. Place the disk in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Make the Crumb

1) In a medium bowl, stir together oatmeal, sugar and flour.  Add the melted butter and stir until combined and moistened.  Refrigerate the topping until chilled. 

Pre-bake the dough

1) Preheat the oven to 350F.   Lightly flour a flat surface.  Roll out the dough to 1/8  inch thick and fit into a 9 inch springform pan, having the crust go up the sides. Return the crust to the fridge for 20 minutes.  Trim off the excess dough to level off the crust on the inside of the pan.  Line the crust with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans and baked for for 18-20 minutes until crust is lightly golden brown.   Remove the beans and foil and let cool. 

Make the filling:

1) Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine.  Add the strawberry filling to the crust and sprinkle the crumb topping over the strawberries.  Bake in the middle of the oven for 50-55 minutes, until filling is bubbling and crumb is golden brown.   Transfer to a rack to cool. 

The crust for this pie was very easy to put together and tasted great.   I actually couldn't believe how well it came together and how easily it was to handle and roll.  This dough will be used in other pies for sure. 

Although this pie wasn't for me, I was able to steal a piece for myself.   I really enjoyed this pie.  I think I would have used brown sugar for the crumb topping instead of white granulated but a minor change.   This was great. 

MEG's RATING : D-EEEE-LICIOUS

My photo shoot got invaded by my niece when my sister came to pick up the pie.  What can I say,  she is also a big fan of strawberries.   Too Cute for words!!

Individual Apple Crumbles

Another holiday dinner,  which always means I must make apple crumble for Dad.   Every time I make it I try to think of some small tweak I can make just to try something new. My sister, a few friends and I took a trip to the U.S last weekend, when I go I always make my way to Target or Walmart and head straight to the baking aisle to look for anything I can't find in Canada.  This trip I found unwrapped mini caramel balls.  Fantastic, these will be a great addition to this years crumble.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 ramekins

Apples

• 3 large apples (500 grams - when peeled, cored and chopped)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 4 tbsp caramel balls

Crumble

• 1 1/2 cups uncooked oats
• 1/4 cup all bran
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup butter plus 1-2 tbsp for dusting ramekins, cut in small cubes   

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Preheat the oven to 425F.  Peel, core and chop the apples into a medium dice

2) Toss with the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Set aside

3) Make the crumble :  Combine the oats, brown sugar, all bran, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix together. 

4) Add in the butter, mixing with your hands to combine coating the butter.  The oat mixture will darken as the butter becomes incorporated. 

5) Spread the remaining butter on the bottom and sides of the ramekins.  Place about 1/4 cup of apples in the bottom of each ramekin.  Add 1/4 cup of crumble on top and mix in slightly with the apples.

6) Place one tablespoon of the caramel balls on top of the apple/crumble layer and repeat with another layer of crumble and apples and again with any apples and crumble remaining ensure all apples are covered with the crumble.

7) Place the ramekins on a baking tray, bake at 425F for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 375F and bake for another 25 minutes. 

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

The caramel balls were a wonderful addition. The apples were not too soggy and the crumble was sweet and crunchy.  Apple crumble is just one of those warming, comforting desserts. It will always be a family favorite at my house.

MEG's RATING : D-EEEEE-LICIOUS!!