easy baking 101, resolution month #1 - Apple Crumble

got this easy peasy apple crumble from my bestie, shinta. see her recipe below (directly copied from her blog).

note:

i adjusted the ingredients a bit because i used whatever was in the kitchen.
apples and pears used here from the fruit baskets brought home from the hospital. because brown sugar is expensive here, i used regular sugar but used less than about 3/4 cup. happened to have blueband margarine, so i used it for the crumble and it turned out alright, really cheap compared to using butter. instead of lemon juice, a splash of orange juice was used. used 1/2 cup of instant oatmeal, then added however much flour needed for the right consistency crumble.

ingredients:
- 4-6 granny smith apples or any cooking apples. best you choose the firm/crunchy one, not those squishy red apples.

- 1 cup of sugar. you can use granulated or brown. i prefer to use brown sugar for better caramelizing.

- 100-125gr of butter. room temperature, do not melt.

- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder or vanilla essence, whichever one you have in your kitchen.

- 1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

- 2 cups of flour. all purpose or self-raising flour, any kind will do. again, whichever you have in your kitchen.

- 1/2 cup oats/granola (optional)

directions:
1. first, peel the apples and core them. cut them in squares and put it in a pan. cover the apples with 1/2 cup of sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon powder and 1 tbsp of butter. cover and let it stew over a low heat. make sure you check and stir with wooden stick to avoid any burning. if a lot of liquid forms, take off the cover and let it caramelized and the apples soften (usually takes abt 30 minutes).

2. once the apples are soften, take off the heat and let it cool. mash the apples with your wooden stick, but not too much. you do not want a puree. once they are mashed (or if you prefer whole, you can also do that, skip the mash step), place them in the bottom of the baking dish.

3. preheat the oven 150C, then prepare the crumble. put in a large bowl the rest of the butter, sugar & flour. try to put the flour little by little then mix with fork or with your hand. you can put in the oats too. mix until the texture becomes crumble-like. if it’s still soft, you may add more flour until the right crumble is achieved.

4. place the crumble on top of the apple filling, do not press down. just distribute them equally on the baking dish. pop in the oven for about 30 minutes. let it cool and serve with vanilla ice cream or cream.