Apple Crumble

I have always made apple pies and read how it was simpler to make a crumble. So when I saw the poor apples languishing in my fridge as I attended to the grind at office, my heart went out to them.Feeling for the apples was one thing and baking something is an entirely different thing all together. 
The weekend quickly vanished in a haze of cleaning, stocking up for the week ahead an settling things down to battle the work week ahead. Determined not to abandon my intentions, I pulled out my trusty glass baking dish even as I washed the apples and roughly chopped them. 
Now, the recipe called for "peeled and cored" apples. I've always made my apple pies with the skin on (and it comes out good every time). So to save some time, I left the skin on and chopped the six apples.

I took a cup of brown sugar and put it on the apples while I started preheating the oven.

I quick squish later, the apples were in the pan. I put in some powdered cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Soon the apples were bubbling away and stewing in the released juice.

While the oven was being preheated and the apples were stewing, I started making the pastry. I started by pulling out a hunk of butter from the fridge and sliced off 100gm. Next the sliced got cubed...

I took a cup of flour(maida) and a quarter cup of brown sugar...

The pastry is supposed to be kneaded as little as possible and mixed using two butter knives. Of course I did nothing of that sort and just squished things together with a fork. Works fine. As long as you don't knead the flour, we're good for short crust pastry. When the flour mixture looked like crumbly little beads, I knew the pastry was ready.

Next I layered the baking dish, with some oats and a few raisins. This would lift the baked end product better and give a little 'raisiny' surprise at the end of the experience.

The apples were now done well and I quickly forked the it into the baking dish...

The pastry now went on top and the trick here is to resist the temptation to the pat it down.

After baking for about 30 min the apple crumble was done. Eating the crumble while it was  still warmish was a treat. The top layer is beautifully salty and a little crunchy which quickly prepares you for the cinnamonny sweetness of the apple and the plumped little raisin at the end.

It's quite difficult to finish the entire crumble by myself (and uncharitable to boot :P). So, next morning my colleagues at work got little clumps of the crumble (except the ones in the throes of some or the other 'diet').