Friday, October 22, 2010

Apple Crumble with Berries




If you are ever in Vancouver, British Columbia during UBC Apple Fest you MUST go! This year visitors could buy more than 60 varieties of apples and learn about another 140 types! They expected to sell almost 30,000 lbs over two days to approximately 14,000 visitors.


My kids loved the Johnny Apple Seed Kids Area where they had their faces painted, made apple blossom rings our of tissue paper and learned more about apples than I thought possible.


We bought 2 types of apples that we had never tried before. The first was a bag of Winter Banana apples. Winter Banana apples are an heirloom variety. Winter Banana Apples are pale yellow with faint pink blush. The flavor is a nice combination of sweet and mild, with a definite banana aroma and a crisp texture.


The second was a bag of Topaz apples. The Topaz is a sharper-tasting apple and is medium-large in size. The skin colour is yellow, almost completely overlaid with red and crimson flush. The flesh is crisp. I preferred the Topaz to the Winter Banana but both taste wonderful.





Although both varieties were great straight out of the bag, I also used them in this apple crumble. This is a quick dessert using apples, frozen berries, and instant oatmeal (I ran out of my usual long cooking oats). Quick. Simple. Delicious.



Ingredients
4-5 large apples, peeled and sliced  (1/4 inch)
1 cup mixed berries - frozen or fresh
juice of one lemon
2 tbsp rum
1 tbsp flour
1/4 - 1/3 cup brown sugar (depending on how tart apples and berries are)
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg


Topping
3 packs instant brown sugar oatmeal
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup cold butter cut into small pieces


What to do
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the first 8 ingredients in a 1.5 quart baking.
3. In another small bowl place topping ingredients together. With hands, quickly rub butter into oatmeal and cinnamon until crumbly.
4. Sprinkle over top of apple mixture.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until juices bubbles and top browns.
6. Enjoy!

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