Ode to red fruits: Apple-Cranberry-Crumble

Please don't wonder this post is in English - I got an e-mail this week from a non-german-speaking friend asking for an easy recipe. The whole thing was about some kind of chain-mail (I suppose), but no threats or promises where included. You know me and my passion, if the word recipe, cooking or baking is included I immediately do 'ignite'. So I thougt "I was supposed to post this recipe anyway on my blog, so why not write in English and share it with some others more?"

Here you are. Last time at the supermarket I couldn't overcome the temptation of buying some fresh cranberries. I never baked or cooked with them before (apart from those jellies you rarely use) and was curious how they would taste raw. Well, really sour. And because I have a sweet tongue, I added sugar, a crusty dough and some apples to make a delicious crumble. If you can't get hold of cranberries, you can substitute them with other sour fruits like blackberries or raspberries or just use apples. Instead of the rice flour you can just use cake flour.

Apple-Cranberry-Crumble

(adapted from La Tartine Gourmande)

For the fruit:

• 3 apples
• 300 g cranberries
• 1/3 cup (60 g) brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the topping:

• 1/2 cup (50 g) cake flour
• 1/2 cup (65 g) walnuts, coarsly chopped
• 1/2 cup (50 g) rice flour
• 1/4 cup (33 g) hazelnuts, grounded
• 1/2 cup (90 g) brown sugar
• 7.5 tablespoons (about 100 g) butter, at room temperature, diced

Preheat the oven at 160°C (320°F) and have one casserole ready. Butter it and set aside. In a bowl, combine the cranberries, apples, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. To prepare the crumble topping, in a bowl, combine the flours. Add the grounded hazelnuts, brown sugar and walnuts. Add the butter and using the tip of your fingers, work the ingredients together to obtain crumbles. If to moist, add some more flour. Add on top of the fruit. Bake the crumbles for 30 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbly and the top is golden. Serve warm with vanilla sauce or ice.