Caramel Apple Sour Cream Crumble

A few weeks ago, we bought some beautiful apples on our way home from my parents' house.  At the time, I was certain the apples were destined for a perfectly cooked pie.  I had told a friend that we would bring a dessert over the following weekend for a get together, and I hoped that my apple pie, paired with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, would make everyone swoon.  All week long, I thought about making the pie.  Its crust would be flaky and golden brown, and the apples, mounded impossibly high, would retain their structure so the filling wouldn't collapse into apple-cinnamon mush. 

By the time the weekend rolled around, I was on a lazy streak.  Crusts require patience, a gentle hand, and lots of love.  I knew that if I went through the motions of making a crust when my heart wasn't in it, the resulting pie would never meet my expectations.  So, I abandoned my idea of pie and went with a crumble.

Crumbles are definitely the way to go when you want to make a fruity dessert that is comforting and comes together with minimal fuss.  This crumble does have an interesting twist:  the apples are macerated and then the resulting juices are cooked down into an amber caramel that is added back to the apples.  Making the caramel does require a little more effort, but it's worth it!  Have you ever met a person who said "no" to caramel?  If you have, I'm sorry.  That is just not right. 

As an added bonus, this recipe is perfect for a day when you want to split the work up into small manageable tasks, since you can leave the apples to macerate in your fridge while you're off running errands for two hours or so.  After you've cooked the juices down into a caramel, the rest of the crumble comes together quickly, and only the baking time will stand between you and your first bite.

OK, I wouldn't eat it the second it comes out of the oven!  You'll burn your tongue if you do that!  Trust me though, it is going to be hard to resist sneaking just one little taste when you pull it out...

Notes:
For the life of me, I cannot remember what type of apples I made this with.  I grabbed some from a farm stand on our way home and only paid attention to the fact that they were baking-friendly.  Just pick an apple that is somewhat tart and bakes well.  Stay away from Red and Yellow Delicious apples; I'm certain they will not work.  I peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apples until my 9x13 pan was full.  It took about 11 cups of sliced apples (5-6 medium sized apples).  I used full-fat sour cream for this recipe.  Gram users:  the nutmeg and cardamom were too light to measure on my scale (Sorry!), so just add a generous pinch of each.  I macerated the sliced apples for 2½ hours.  You should macerate them for at least 30 minutes, but for less than 3 hours.  I ended up with a cup of juices.  If you have more or less juice, that is fine.  Just cook it down to ~½ cup if you started with ~1 cup of juice or down to ~ ⅓ cup if you started with ~½ cup of juice.  And don't worry if your caramel clumps a bit when you add it to the apples.  Hidden pockets of caramel are what make this crumble special.  I used all-purpose flour in the "pie" part and white whole wheat flour in the crumble part.  There really isn't a good reason for why I used two different types; you should be able to interchange them with equally pleasant results.  I used the broiler to make the topping a nice golden brown color, since the apples were cooked before the topping was browned to my liking.  If your topping browns too quickly while baking, cover it lightly with a piece of foil.  If it is perfectly browned when the apples are cooked, there is no need to put it under the broiler.  If you do need to broil it, keep a close eye on the crumble while you do it so the topping doesn't burn. 

Inspired by Scott's Armenia Peace Corps Cookbook with some techniques from The Pie and Pastry Bible.

Apple Filling Ingredients:
10-11 cups (1.15 kg; 2 lbs 8.5 oz.) peeled, cored, and thinly sliced apples
1½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
⅓ cup (70 g) granulated sugar
½ cup (114 g) light brown sugar
2 teaspoons (5 g) ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon (2 grams) salt
6 tablespoons (54 g) all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons (43 g) unsalted butter
1 cup (226 g) sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla

Crumble Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick; 113 g) unsalted butter, cubed and cold
½ cup (114 g) light brown sugar
4 tablespoons (56 g) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (2 g) ground cinnamon
½ cup (59 g) white whole wheat flour
1½ cups (163 g) chopped walnuts
½ cups (63 g) rolled oats

Toss, Macerate:
In a large bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice, granulated and brown sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and salt.  Lightly cover the bowl, and put it in the refrigerator to macerate for at least 30 minutes, but less than 3 hours.  While the apples macerate, they will release the juices that will be cooked down into the caramel. 

Drain, Toss, Boil, Toss, Spread, Crumble, Bake, Broil:
Once the apples have finished macerating, place a colander over a large bowl (to catch the juice), and dump the apples and juice into the colander.  Allow the juice to drain away from the apples for 5-10 minutes, stirring the apples a few times to help the juice drain away.  While the apples drain, set a rack at the middle level of the oven, and preheat to 350°F.  Butter a 9x13-inch pan, and set aside.  Return the strained, sliced apples to the bowl they were macerated in, toss with the flour, and set aside until the caramel is made.  There should be ~1 cup of juice that was strained away from the apples (see the note if you have less than 1 cup of juice).  Transfer the juice into a medium-sized saucepan, add the three tablespoons of butter, and bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat.  Cook the mixture, swirling the pan regularly (but not stirring), until it has reduced down to a half cup, about 15-20 minutes.  Even though it doesn't need to be stirred, you should watch the pot carefully so the caramel doesn't burn.  Pour the hot caramel over the apple and flour mixture, and stir to combine.  Next stir in the sour cream and vanilla.  Scrape the mixture into the prepared 9x13-inch pan, and evenly spread it out in the pan.  Make the crumble topping by cutting together butter cubes with the light brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and flour using two knives or your fingertips.  Once the butter pieces are pea-sized, stir in the walnuts and rolled oats.  Evenly sprinkle the crumble over top of the apple mixture.  Place the pan in the oven and bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes until the apples are fully cooked (i.e., a toothpick inserted into the apples meets no resistance) and the juices are bubbling.  If the crust is not golden brown, turn on the broiler and broil for about 2 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.  Serve warm and refrigerate any leftovers.  Pin It