Caramel Apple Crumble (or how having a stroke improved my life...)

It has turned chilly and, given my poor circulation, I am now permanently swathed in jumpers, scarves and gloves. So this afternoon when preparing for one of the boys friends coming to play and spotting some bramley apples that were starting to turn I was inspired to whip up a quick crumble (and custard). Rummaging in the cupboard for the sugar i came across a tin of caramel and couldn't resist so the caramel Apple crumble was born!
I am very grateful for my electric apple/potato peeler making the job of peeling the apples easy and an ikea apple corer/segmenter making the prep easy too.

You will probably assume I must do something with the leftover pumpkin from Halloween soon(bought 4 and carved 3 before running out of time).

Not too many photos of the finished product - it was all put together in time for the school run and when I had cooked it I had 3 boys nipping at my heels until not much was left. The boys had theirs with custard, I plumped for ice cream.

Anyway it's a very quick recipe and fool proof recipe BUT, I hear you cry,what has this all got to do with having a stroke?! Well bear with me... When I was little my family's go to dessert was crumble, mostly rhubarb but also apple, apple and blackberry, strawberry and apple etc etc. While I loved to eat these fruits uncooked, when they were stewed I could NOT stand the smell of them. The worst was rhubarb but apple was a close run second and I literally could not get the spoon near enough to my face to get it into my mouth, even when holding my nose. So I would occasionally be allowed some custard and my Mum would sometimes do a small bowl of just crumble with no fruit for me. Even more galling was that everyone else LOVED them and Nanny's crumble in particular was hailed as the creme-de-la-creme of puddings.

So then 8 years ago I had my stroke that paralysed my left hand side but it also had a secondary effect. The more movement I regained the weaker my sense of smell got. It was like my brain decided smell was unnecessary and could be recycled to replace some of the dead area.I suspect the fact that I was dealling with a particularly pooptastic newborn at the time factored in the decision. It was only this year that, seeing apple crumble on a menu , it occured to question if I was able to eat it now? To my delight I can now scarf stewed apple to my hearts delight! I have yet to brave rhubarb but once it is in season I'll have to brave it...

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Caramel Apple Crumble

by One handed Mum November-9-2017

A very over indulgent old-fashioned pudding, ideal with custard or ice cream

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 45 mins Yield: 8 normal servings or 4 STARVING BOY servings

Ingredients

• Approx 1 kg cooking apples
• 2 tblspn water
• 100g plain flour
• 50g caster sugar
• 75g Butter
• 1 tin Carnation caramel (or similar)
• approx a tblsp demerara
• 50g oats

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 200/180 fan.
2. Peel, core and chop the apples (I prefer to leave the skin in but I chop it up small or my kids moan)
3. Combine apples with water in a pan and cook with a lid on at a low heat until the apples are softened (about 5 minutes or so)
4. Remove from heat and stir through the caramel. 
5. Transfer into an ovenproof dish
6. Rub together butter, flour and caster sugar until it resembles breadcrumbs. 
7. Stir in the oats.
8. Sprinkle crumble mixture on top of the apple to cover. Then sprinkle on the demerara sugar - it will give it a nice crunch.
9. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden on top. Serve with custard/ice cream