EE: In this issue of Eesti Elu, we have another delicious dessert recipe from Amanda, Tartu College’s Finance Manager, one that’s sure to bring you back to your childhood, as she told us herself.
Indeed, for many, the scent of tart apples softening in the oven, mingled with the richness of butter and vanilla, is an immediate sensory link to our youth. Maybe we recall standing in the kitchen with our aprons, learning from our family members just how much to work the butter into the flour.
When it’s all done, pulling a pan like this from the oven, with its golden-brown topping and the steam rising from the fruit layer, is a feeling of deep comfort. And the addition of cottage cheese adds a particular depth that we find in traditional European-style cakes, making it substantial and nourishing. So let’s learn how to make this crumble.
Yield: 9 to 12 servings
Ingredients:
200 grams of butter (room temperature, do not melt)
350 grams of flour
150 grams of sugar + 4 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of sour cream
180 grams of cottage cheese (preferably tvorog)
6 eggs
1 teaspoon of baking soda
4 Honeycrisp apples
1 teaspoon of vanilla sugar (optional)
100 grams of dried cranberries (optional)
100 grams of raisins (optional)
Instructions:
1) Preheat the oven to 360°F (180°C).
2) Place the raisins in a bowl, cover them with water, and let them soak while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Drain before using.
3) In a large bowl, mix the butter, flour, baking soda, and 150 grams of sugar. The butter should be at room temperature so it mixes well. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs (like sand).
4) In a medium bowl, mix the cottage cheese, 4 tablespoons of sugar, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla sugar until well combined.
5) Peel and cut the apples into small cubes.
6) Take an 8” × 8” (20 × 20 cm) baking pan (about 2 inches deep). Press 2/3 of the crumb mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan to form a solid layer.
7) Add the apples on top, then sprinkle the drained raisins and cranberries over them.
8) Pour the cottage cheese mixture evenly over the fruit layer.
9) Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the top.
10) Bake for 45–55 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Head isu! Labu apetīti! Bon appétit!
