A crumble is a fruit-based dessert with a crumbly topping called a streusel that's a mixture of flour, butter and sugar -- plus optional flavorings like cinnamon, vanilla extract, lemon zest or nuts -- that is baked until crisp. The flour, butter and sugar are combined until they form crumbs; some people like to add oats or nuts to the mixture.
Apple crumble is traditional, but you can make a crumble out of rhubarb, blackberries, plums or just about any fruit. A crumble is delicious warm or cold, plain or accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream, heavy cream or custard.
The crumble is said to have been invented in Britain during World War II, when food rationing made pie crusts an impossibility. Americans sometimes call the crumble a crisp.
What does it mean to grease something?
What does it mean to grease something?
To grease a pan means to coat it in some sort of protective shortening or fat -- usually butter -- to prevent whatever you are cooking from sticking.
Greasing has fallen out of favor with the demonization of fat and in the advent of non-stick pans, parchment paper, non-stick cooking sprays and silicone baking liners and tins.
While it's not always necessary to grease a cookie sheet or a cake tin, you have no choice if you want your soufflé to rise.
Be courageous this holiday season and learn how to make homemade pastry dough for all of those pies you'll be baking. This video by Handmade TV includes a recipe and step-by-step instructions for a crust worthy of any filling.
Which apples are best for cooking and baking?
Which apples are best for cooking and baking?
There are no firm rules about which of the world's thousands of apple varieties are most appropriate for cooked sweet and savory dishes.
But for baking, Honeycrisp, Cortland, Golden Delicious, Gala, Newtown Pippin and Granny Smith work well because they hold their shape in pies and tarts without turning to applesauce. Some people favor naturally sweeter apples like Golden Delicious and Gala when baking desserts; Newton Pippin and Granny Smith add a tart note to savory dishes like stuffings.
To make apple sauce, Gravenstein apples have an ideal sweet-tart balance; Jonathan apples have a tender texture and moderately tart flavor.
To crimp something -- say, pastry, pizza or pie dough -- is to decoratively fold the edges of it, slightly overlapping the folds to create a rounded border.
Crimping is easy to do and makes the edges of sweet and savory pies, empanadas, dumplings and calzones look more finished. Crimping also seals two pieces of dough tightly to keep the filling ingredients from leaking out during baking.
Aluminum foil or parchment paper is also crimped when used to make a papillote. The sealed package seals in the steam that cooks the meat or fish.
