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Cranapple holiday crumble


I'm starting early with holiday recipes because I plain old love the holiday season. Well, that and I want to tell you about an exciting new class I'm teaching this December at The London Chef! It's called Gifts from the Christmas Kitchen and it's all about making and decorating homemade goodies then taking them home with you to give to those who deserve a delicious Christmas. We'll make spiced pear and cranberry chutney, chocolate chunk cookie mixes complete with baking instructions, and cinnamon and honey candied pecans. Seriously yummy stuff! If you're in the Victoria area, I really hope you can make it out.

In the meantime, I have this all new holiday recipe for you! This luscious fruit crumble combines sweet apples and tart cranberries with a crunchy oat topping scented with classic holiday spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. This dessert is right at home from November through Christmas, New Years and beyond.

Here's how I made it:

6 cups apple, peeled and sliced thinly
2 cups whole cranberries (fresh or frozen)
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup oats
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp salt

While my oven preheated to 375 degrees (F), I added the apples and cranberries to a large mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, I mixed the white sugar, flour and cinnamon, and poured the dry ingredients over the fruit, tossing to coat. The coated fruit was then poured into a 9 x 9 baking dish (I used a deep ceramic dish, but glass works nicely too). 

To make the crumb topping, I added the butter and brown sugar to a mixing bowl and mashed thoroughly with a fork. I added the oats, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt and continued mashing and mixing with the fork until evenly combined and crumbly. The crumb coating was sprinkled evenly on top of the fruit. Then I put the crumble in the oven to bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes until the coating was golden and the filling was bubbling.


It's like Christmas on a spoon! Yum.

When do holiday flavours start sneaking into your kitchen?