Apple...Berry... Extraordinary

I keep tuning these words in my head while I'm thinking about the dessert I made on Saturday. Almost all of my all-time favourite ingredients are in there. Just pick one!!! Apples... forest berries (blueberries, blackberries, red currants, mmmmmmm), oats, caramel (oops! I was supposed to have some, but I ran out of it... made several things and it was gone in a flash ^__^. Had to think of something to substitute it with.). And so simple to make, trust me...
Actually, trust me, if you're going to make it yourself, but if you come over for a visit, and you know I made this, I'm telling you, it's no good ^__^, no, no. Hands off!!!
Sometimes I'm worse than my kids. As the pan with this crumble was sitting on my kitchen table, cooling, and I was messing around, making dinner, I suddenly found myself with a spoon in my hand and eating it right out of the pan. "Just one... no, let me have one more bite, I didn't quite get the taste... oh, but that blackberry is calling my name, I need to have another bite..." Before you know it, half of the pan was gone (at this point I can say, luckily, I only made half of the recipe). Did I feel guilty, oh you bet I did ^__^
I highly recommend you serve it with some plain yogurt (I used sweetened one) or ice cream.



My youngest daughter (3 and a half) got so attached to me since she started kindergarten. She keeps telling me every minute "Mom, I love you so much". Now, that is the sweetest thing you can hear, but she keeps repeating it literally 30 times within an hour, while she's playing, eating, doing anything else. So, while I was putting her to bed, she went on, and at some point I told her "Listen, why don't you buy yourself another mom, I'm a bit tired of hearing you repeat this over and over again". She knew I was joking, so she just laughed and went to sleep. The following evening, as I was putting her to bed again, she asked, smiling naughtily, "Mom, should I go and get myself another mom?" I was disarmed and had to make a jealous scene telling her I would never let her have another mom 'cause I wanted to hear "Mamma, ti voglio tanto bene" over and over again. She's such an extraordinary kid, already developing her sense of humor at her age.

Well, I hope you'll feel disarmed in front of this dessert just as I did.
Have a nice week all (not that it started with sunshine, it's pouring outside, I hope you're all having better weather where you are, if not, your oven can do miracles, you know that ^__^)



Apple, Berry, Toffee Crumble Squares


300 g (10 oz) apples (peeled and cored)
400 g (14 oz) soft caramel sauce (I mixed 300 g (10.5 oz)  condensed milk and 100 g (3.5oz) muscovado sugar as a substitute)
200 g (7 oz) oats
2 teaspoons cinnamon


topping:
55 g (2 oz) oats
15 g (1/2 oz) butter
55 g (2 oz) toasted flaked almonds
300 g (11 oz) fresh or frozen forest fruits


+
an 18x28 cm (8x11") baking tin
* oven temp.  180°c (350°F)

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Chop the peeled and cored apples, put them in a saucepan with 6 TBspoons of water, cover and cook until soft. Drain the excess water  (if there is any) and puree the apples with a stick blender.
Put the oats (200 g) and the cinnamon in a mixing bowl, add the cooked apples and 2/3 of the caramel. Mix well.
Spread 2/3 of the oats mixure onto the base  of the tin lined with parchment paper and create a smooth layer using a spoon.
Tumble the berries (defrosted and drained if using the frozen ones) over the base. Drizzle the remaining caramel over the berries.
For the topping, add 55 g of oats to the remaining oats mixture in the bowl and mix well. Rub in the butter and stir in the sliced almonds.
Dot this crumbly topping over the berries and press lightly for all the layers to stick together.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Leave it to cool, cut into squares and serve with some yogurt or ice cream.




Crumble quadratini con mele, frutti di bosco e caramello

base:

300 g di mele (sbucciate)
400 g caramello pronto(l'ho sostituito con 300 g di latte condensato mescolato con 100 g di zucchero muscovado)
200 g di fiocchi d'avena
2 cucchiaini di cannella in polvere


per ripieno e copertura:
55 g di fiocchi d'avena
15 g burro
55 g mandorle a scaglie tostate
300 g di frutti di bosco (freschi o surgelati)


Accendete il forno a 180°C.
Tagliate le mele a pezzettini e cuocetele con 6 cucchiai d'acqua in un pentolino coperto finché diventino morbide. Scolate il liquido di cottura e frullate le mele con un frullatore a immersione.
Mettete i fiocchi d'avena e la cannella in una ciotola. Aggiungete le mele cotte e 2/3 di caramello. Mescolate bene.
Distribuite 2/3 di questo impasto sul fondo di una teglia rettangolare (18x28cm) aiutandovi con un cucchiaio.
Distribuite i frutti di bosco (scongelati e scolati dal loro liquido se usate quelli surgelati) sopra l'impasto di base, e ricoprite con il caramello rimasto.
Aggiungete 55 g di fiocchi d'avena all’impasto rimanente e mescolate bene. Unite il burro tagliato a pezzettini strofinando con le mani, e alla fine anche le scaglie di mandorle.
Distribuite questo composto granuloso sopra la frutta e cuocete il crumble per circa 30 minuti o finché diventi dorato.
Lasciatelo intiepidire e servitelo con lo yogurt o gelato.






Crumble kocke od jabuka i šumskog voća s karamelom


300 g jabuka (oguljenih i očišćenih)
400 g gotovog karamel umaka (ja sam ga ovaj put zamijenila s 300 g kondenziranog mlijeka pomiješanog sa 100 g muscovado šećera)
200 g zobenih pahuljica
2 žličice cimeta u prahu


za nadjev i posip:
55 g zobenih pahuljica
15 g maslaca
55 g badema narezanih na listiće, malo poprženih
300 g šumskog voća (svježeg ili smrznutog)


Zagrijte pećnicu na 180°C.
Oguljene i očišćene jabuke narežite na kockice pa ih stavite kuhati sa 6 žlica vode u poklopljenoj posudi dok ne odmeknu. Ocijedite višak vode pa jabuke smrvite štapnim mikserom ili ih ispasirajte.
Stavite 200g zobenih pahuljica i cimet u zdjelu, dodajte kuhane jabuke i 2/3 karamela. Izmiješajte sve dobro pa rasporedite 2/3 smjese u četvrtastu posudu za pečenje (18x28cm) tako da prekrijete dno u ravnomjernom sloju.
Rasporedite voće preko smjese u plehu i preko njega rasporedite preostali karamel.
Za posip, dodajte 55 g zobenih pahuljica preostaloj 1/3 smjese i dobro izmiješajte. Dodajte sitno nasjeckan maslac pa ga utrljajte vršcima prstiju, i na kraju umiješajte i bademe. Rasporedite ovu mrvičastu, ljepljivu smjesu preko voća.
Pecite u zagrijanoj pećnici oko 30 minuta odnosno dok ne dobije zlatno smeđu boju.
Ostavite da se prohladi, narežite na kocke i poslužite uz jogurt ili sladoled.