One of my favorite ways of cooking apples and other fruit is making it into a crisp (or as our British friends call it, apple crumble). I love the tender, juicy fruit, covered with the sweet crispy crumb topping. Apple would have to be my favorite, but it is also very good made with pears and peaches. Here is how I do it.
enough peeled, cored and thinly sliced apples to make about 6 cups
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup white sugar
cinnamon to taste
Place the sliced apples in a nice baking dish. Mix together the flour, sugar and cinnamon, then pour the melted butter over it. With a fork mix it all together until you a bowl of gravely looking crumbles. Sprinkle them even over the top of the apples. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees, about 30-45 minutes, or until the apples are very tender and topping is lightly browned. Cool to room temperature before serving. It is delicious served with a bit of heavy cream poured over the top or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Variations:
For peaches, add a bit of cloves to the cinnamon, flour and sugar mixture. Make it with pears just like for the apple crisp. If you happen to have a quince, peel and slice it, mixing it with either apples or pears. It will add an incredible aroma and taste.
Some crisp recipes call for using brown sugar and oatmeal. That is very good too. Here are the proportions for using those:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
cinnamon or apple pie spice to taste (usually about 3/4 tsp)
1/3 cup melted butter
Mix together the dry ingredients, then pour in the melted butter and stir to mix well, making the crumbly mixture as above. Cover the sliced apples and bake at 350 degrees about 30-45 minutes, again until the apples are tender and the topping browned and crispy.
