This is our third fall in this house. One of the great benefits of living here is that we have a tiny property absolutely packed full of fruit trees and bushes. We've got a plum, two cherries, a peach, elderberry, red raspberry, several varieties of grapes, a hazelnut, and an apple tree. Most of the other fruit producing plants have been an easy gift - they make food, we eat it.But the apple tree has been a particular pain. It has a terrible infestation of codling moths - which, if you're not in the know, are the most common apple pest and the source of the infamous worm in the apple.
I am dedicated to not using chemicals on our food. For one thing, I believe it's healthier. Second, we can't afford to buy all our produce organic, so growing it offsets our budget by a lot. Third, I have an elderly and beloved dog who walks around on our property and I would not live with myself if the thing which killed her was the chemicals sprayed on and around our trees. So - for the past 3 years I have been systematically cutting the apples off the tree as soon as there is evidence of a worm and immersing them in water for 3 days. We have a massive compost pile. But all this ridiculous work has now paid off in the form of several dozen apples. Their texture and taste seemed similar to a Granny Smith, so we knew it was 'the pie' for them.
Not coincidentally, apple harvest time is also walnut harvest time. You'll note that I didn't mention any walnut trees on our property. But here in rural France, walnuts line the roads and I have collected at least 50 pounds of walnuts that now need to be used. Walnuts + apples=yummy.
I don't have a rolling pin (it got left behind in Greece) so I needed something without pastry. Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Pie and Pastry Bible had exactly the recipe I needed. Mrs. Beranbaum introduced me to the technique of reducing the juices of apples after macerating them in order to condense the flavors and use less flour in the filling, resulting in a much more apple-y flavor. I use this technique exclusively in similar desserts. I am seriously telling you that this book has traveled the world with me and is one of 4 cookbooks I won't live without. The flaky pastry alone is worth the price. (I once served this pastry to a French woman in Greece who told me it was THE BEST pastry she had ever eaten, which I take as a very high compliment coming from a French person.
Anyhow, the real key here is the crumb crust - the rest is just apples, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and technique. The crumb crust would work beautifully on any 'crumble' you wanted to make. I wasn't sure on the vanilla, but I thought 'what the heck, we can try it' and I'm really glad we did.
Crumb Crust for one apple (or other fruit) crumble or pie:
2 TB plus 2 tsp. packed brown sugar
1 TB sugar
1/2 cup walnut halves
1/16 tsp salt (I just throw in two pinches)
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (dip and sweep) AP flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
3/4 tsp vanilla
Put all the dry ingredients in a mini-food processor and whir until well blended and nuts are mostly gone. Add the butter (don't use it too soft - the crust won't be a crumb) and whir again until it's well incorporated. Sprinkle vanilla over the mixture and use a fork to mix it.
If the butter is the right temperature, I find this crumbs very nicely - with a good mix of large and small bits. If the butter is too soft, it becomes more of a dough - still tasty but not as pretty.
The man of this house doesn't really like apples - they are too 'plebian' for him, but even he has admitted that this is one of his favorite desserts. He eats it with no coercing, which is unusual for him. So, it's delicious and I love it!
