giving thanks, part the second

One of my favourite things in the world is spending awhile in my kitchen with some good music in the background, making & baking something elaborate to share with other people. A great example of this is my apple crumble, a recipe that is simple but involves a lot of meditative peeling and chopping, and ends up being a pan full of good-looking, good-tasting dessert. I brought this to Thanksgiving dinner #2 last night and it seemed to be well-received.

This recipe is taken straight from the Post-Punk Kitchen website and is barely modified at all. Easy as pie (crumble?).

INGREDIENTS:
(Filling)
– 4 lbs apples (I used McIntosh apples from the Halifax farmers’ market)
– 1/2 cup brown sugar
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 1/2 cup apple juice or water
– 1 tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
– 1 tsp ground cinnamon
– 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
– 1/4 tsp allspice
– 1/8 tsp cloves
– 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

(Topping)
– 1 cup quick cooking oats
– 1 cup flour
– 1 cup light brown sugar
– 1/2 tsp baking powder
– 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
– 1/3 cup canola oil
– 3 tbsp soy milk
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 1/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:
– Peel, core and thinly slice apples. Dissolve the arrowroot in the apple juice or water. Set aside.
– Place apples and raisins in a 9×13″ baking dish, add sugars and spices, and combine everything well (you may need to use your hands to do this). Pour arrowroot mixture over everything.
– To prepare the topping, in a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add oil, soymilk, and vanilla, mix well. Crumble topping over the apples.
– Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

I only made a couple of changes to this recipe, and they were just items of personal preference. I had apple cider in my fridge, so I used that in place of water or juice, and I hate both nutmeg and raisins, so I replaced the former with an extra 1/2 tsp mix of cinnamon/allspice/cloves and left out the latter.

As the guy on Art Attack would say, try it yourself!