Washington Apples come to India, We steam them into puddings and bake them into Apple Crumble

Steamed Apple pudding.... mix them with fruits or mix them with chocolate chips n walnuts or just bake them with a crumble.... either ways we're keeping the doctor away.....

Washington Apple Commission India office contacted me about the launch of Washington Apples in India. Had to excuse myself as I was busy with my sister's wedding. They very sweetly sent across a lovely gift pack of the produce for me to try out....

The varieties in my box-of-goodies were Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Cripps Pink and Braeburn. There is loads of more information on their website http://www.bestapples.com/ You can view the rest of their varieties here. Since apples are seasonal fruits... view their availability here. They have some nice dessert recipes here(wish they had original pics and ran a contest for user's pictures). What I kept wondering was... How are these apples so picture perfect??? just no marks on their skin.... Then I read about the concept of 'Edible Wax' on the fruit for protection and meant to be washed off in a good wash before consumption. I am not quite comfortable with this idea... hence spent ages washing the fruit well before consumption.

Now that they are washed n clean... let me bite into these juicy, flavourful n gorgeous produce.
Since I had hurt my foot and was barely able to hobble around the kitchen so something complicated was out of question. Washington Apple Commission India office informs me that the apples have a shelf life of about a week when kept in refrigerator... How could I let such lovely produce wait even for a day.... So I had my neighbour come over to help.... He kept me in great company and yes did earn his dessert by zesting some oranges for me.... while making a presentation for work...

Using my new corer cum slicer, I set about very purposefully... couldn't stop grinning at the lovely Apple Flower I got .... This time I added chocolate pieces to the Apple crumble... they were lovely melted n gooey after baking. The next addition was Cinnamon Sugar from FabIndia... Yes I did over indulge with this shaker....

My flavour mix for the pudding bowls.

Fruity:Cherries soaked in Brandy, BlackCurrant Jam.

Warm Spice: cinnamon and cloves.

Chocolatey: Chocolate Chips, Orange Jam and Fresh Orange Zest

The beautiful ramekins were gifted to me by Gauri of Backyard Baker for my Birthday, earlier this year. I was waiting for something suitable to bake in them especially with me hobbling around... These apples were just the right thing.... Thank you Gauri :)

Red Delicious(sweet, juicy and has crisp yellow flesh; for eating as is or for salads), Golden Delicious(very well suited for salads; for Squishy used like sauces), Granny Smith(tart and crisp; mostly pies and baking, even salads) and Cripps Pink(sweet, mildly tart and crisp in texture; for eating, salads and baking.) were used in my pudding bowls.

I made a homogeneous mixture of 2 beaten eggs(1/2 for each bowl used), 1 cup Flour(1/4 for each bowl used), 4 level tablespoons of Sugar (1 for each bowl used), 1 scraped Vanilla Bean (1/4 for each bowl used). Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Divide the batter amongst, chopped apples into each bowl. Sprinkle some cinnamon to bring out the flavour.

Add the different flavours for each bowl.... I went quite over board with them, 1 was with Orange Jam, Fresh Orange Zest and chocolate chips. Another was with nutella(ah good old nutella... *huge starry eyed grin on my face*) Walnuts and Chocolate chips....
After all the preparation... I find out that sometime between the time I put on the onen to pre-heat and my mixing the flavours... THE-OVEN-STOPPED-HEATING.... Wails of distress....

Raced my mind quickly, how do I save these fabulous bowls of flavour...... I remembered my 1st Daring Baker Challenge where the cooking method was steaming. I quickly set about heating some water in small water baths to steam these apple pudding ramekins...

Verdict:

Apple Crumple: was a real quick fix for my dessert craving neighbour(who refuses to be photographed) His dad liked it too. The over board shaker of Cinnamon Sugar was toned with Vanilla Icecream..... Apple Crumple with Icecream was a yummy combination.

Chocolate Apple Pudding:This was rated the best by my neighbour in appearance.

Fruity Apple Pudding: This was rated the best by my neighbour on taste cause I also put in a few grapes and they added a tanginess to the fruity flavours.

Have finally figured out Akshita's sort of Apple Crumble

Remember my post on Apple Crumble and Apple Pie, for Neha Didi where I learnt the recipes from my Bua[My Dad's sister]..... Akshita is her daughter, my sister, just loves the Apple Crumble....

Now that've learnt how to make the crumble... had to get it right for Akshita.... just the way she likes it.... not too tart and fairly sweet.....
She's married n settled in the US where she has to do everything herself including cooking [which she treats only as a chore n isn't very fond of]. Like most of the other's she too loves to come home with an agenda for FOOD..... So my conribution to that list is her fav Apple Crumble.... That's us just before she left back for the US....
Have a good life sis...

Apple Crumble and Apple Pie for the Apple of our Eye ~ Krishna's Favorite Neha Didi

Happy Birthday Neha Didi....
She's one of the sweetest, loving and most sincere people I have ever met..... remember sharing my Nancy Drew books with her... have learnt so much from her... her patience is amazing.... She was the one who lost lots of weight and inspired me to get on track aswell.... If it wasn't for her... this post on 'Minus 17 kgs', would never have been possible.
The loveliness of golden apples.... tart yet sweet in their own way.....

My bua[my dad's sister] is an awesome baker [who needs post entirely dedicated to her] was over and i just had to learn something from her while she was over. This is her recipe...

Apple Crumble
Ingredients
Fruit Filling
6 cups peeled and cored apples chopped into 1/2-to 3/4-inch pieces (about 6 large apples)
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresah ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
5 Cloves

Crumble Topping (Makes about 3 cups crumbs)
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 table spoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

Directions

Mix the Topping
Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and use a large spoon to stir them together.
Add the butter pieces, stirring to coat them with the flour.
Rub the butter pieces and flour between your thumb and fingertips or cut them together with a pastry blender until coarse crumbs form that are about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in size, there is no loose flour, and the mixture looks pale yellow rather than white and crumbly.

Prepare the Filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Put the apples in a glass or ceramic baking container.
Either an 8- or 9-inch square baking dish or a 9 1/2- to 10-inch diameter round pie dish, both with 1 3/4- to 2-inch high sides, works well.
Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
Sprinkle the sugar mixture and lemon juice over the apples.
Stir the mixture to combine the ingredients, spreading them in an even layer in the baking dish. Set aside.

Spread the crumbs evenly over the apple mixture.

Bake and Serve the Crumble

Bake about 40 minutes until the crumb topping is golden but with a few spots of light brown, and the apples are tender when tested with a toothpick.

Let the crumble cool about 15 minutes before serving.

Spoon the warm crumble onto individual plates and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.

The crumble can be baked a day ahead, cooled, covered, and stored at room temperature. Warm it, uncovered, in a preheated 250°F oven for 15 minutes.
Apple Pie
Use all the above ingredients to make the fruit filling.
Rub some more butter to the crumble and knead it into a dough by adding ice cold water.
Let the dough chill for 30 minutes.
Pre heat the oven.
Roll it out into a disc 1/4 of an inch thick.
Place it in the pie dish and flatten it out.
Poke a few holes with a fork or knife.
Blind bake for 15-20 minutes, remove from oven.
Add the filling and seal the pie.
Bake for about 40 minutes or till the pastry is golden brown.


Neha didi is a huge fan of Lord Krishna.....

Love your smile Neha didi.....