Sunday, December 6, 2009

Perfect apple almond crisp

When the weather is cold and you've had a hell of a week, it's a good idea to make an apple crisp.

On friday, I arrived home after a very long week of work, feeling the need to make something simple and soothing. Our produce basket was overflowing with apples, so I started to think about an upside down apple cake. Mark Bittman recently ran a recipe in the Times for a maple pear upside down cake, and it's been on my list to make, swapped out with apples. But the husband really loves apple crisp, and since he'd had a rough week too, that's what I settled on.

I always use the apple crisp recipe from Baking Illustrated and I cannot imagine finding a better one. I'm not sure what makes it so good--if it's the ratio of butter to flour, or the fact that you chill the topping before you sprinkle it over the apples and bake it. Whatever the reason, this recipe is a real winner.

Usually I use walnuts, but as I had no walnuts and plenty of almonds, the almond apple crisp was born. Then, in rummaging around for the cinnamon and nutmeg, I also discovered a little bottle of almond extract I had forgotten about. A splash seemed like it would provide a lovely perfume to the whole dessert.

The crisp turned out exactly as I hoped. The apples were soft but not mushy, and full of warmth from the spices and extract. The almonds made the topping much crunchier than it usually turned out with walnuts--and, we decided, much better. We ate it with vanilla ice cream, which I consider mandatory with fruit desserts. No matter how great a crisp, crumble, or pie is, it's guaranteed to be better with ice cream. Actually, that goes for most things.


If you do not own the Baking Illustrated cookbook, I highly recommend it. It's a cookbook for the very nerdy, containing only a handful of glossy photos and long paragraphs of explanation preceding most recipes. The writers make clear the reasoning behind all of their measurements and directions. While I don't read every word, I do read quite a bit of it, and I appreciate the great care that went into the creation of each recipe. And to date, I have yet to make recipe from the book that hasn't worked out perfectly.

But back to the crisp at hand, or at fork...


The smell of apples baking with cinnamon and nutmeg is irresistible on its own, but if you add almonds, it might just send you over the moon. The crisp was sweet, crunchy, and full of appley goodness--exactly what we needed to smooth the edges of a rough week.

16 comments:

  1. I don't have this cookbook, but I hope you share more yummy recipes from it!

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  2. I love the whole family of recipes from Cook's Illustrated. I don't have Baking Illustrated, but I do subscribe to the magazine and I also have one of the America's Test Kitchen books.

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  3. Oh wow. That's what I want for breakfast! Send me some, would you please? :)

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  4. I like nerdy cookbooks! :) Hope your week ahead gets better. Surely that golden-ny crisp must have helped a little.

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  5. This looks like the perfect apple crisp. I never thought of chilling the topping first. I'll have to try that!

    So what's the ratio of butter to flour? Can you give a hint?

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  6. I know what I'm doing with my next bag of CSA apples!

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  7. Oh yum, that looks super delicious! I love the addition of almonds to apple crisp.

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  8. Your apple crisp looks indeed very delicious! Thanks for sharing :)

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  9. I don't own a Baking Illustrated cookbook, for exactly that reason: not very many pictures and long paragraphs. Haha, but maybe that's why I've been missing out on so many wonderful desserts like this one!

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  10. Yum and very delicious-looking! Funny - there's a recipe for a cranberry-apply crisp in the special Holiday Baking issue of Cooks Illustrated (LOVE that magazine!). My mom cooked it yesterday for my dad, and they said the topping was the best they'd ever eaten! Is it the same recipe? It's 3/4c each flour and oats, 1/2c each white and brown sugars, 1t cinnamon, and 12T butter. That recipe also says to chill the topping, probably to keep the butter from getting too soft and making the crumbs disintegrate, right?

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  11. I second that -- everything does go better with ice cream. Even ice cream. Two scoops is better than one. ;)

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  12. I love crisps, crumbles, buckles...you name it. Your substitutions are great- almonds and almond extract. Of course, ice cream is a necessity!

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  13. Kate: I think the ratio is 6 T. flour: 5 T. butter. To me, this seems very buttery! And the topping ends up delicate and crumbly but not TOO crumbly.

    nightowlchef: those proportions are similar though the recipe is different, this one does not call for oats. I really think the chilling makes a difference, probably same way chilling cookie dough or pie crusts makes a difference.

    Food Gal: ha! ice cream with a side of ice cream. Yes.

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  14. This looks delicious! Thanks for the cookbook recommendation.

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  15. Oooh, that does sound like the perfect antidote to a bad week. And I totally support that bill to make it a law to top any baked fruit desserts with vanilla! ;-)

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  16. cookbookapprentice: thank you! and so glad you stopped by.

    Single Guy Ben: how can we get this on the ballot?

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