A Very English Apple Crisp

We made apple crisp together back in January, when sexier stone fruits were a faint memory, and we craved something warm and homey for dessert. Looking back at our early pastry sessions, this one was the most relaxing—absolutely perfect for the grandmother who doesn’t so much want to bake, as she wants to spend an hour in the brilliant company of her grandchild. Food prep as a means to an end.

At eight-years-old, Piper could do every step of this recipe by herself. All she needed was someone to take the pan in-and-out of the oven. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to have a kitchen assistant/dad who can hurry along the apple slicing part. I could have used a helper myself, since slicing is not the height of baking excitement.

My indelible first taste of apple crisp occurred on a trip to England in 1971, with my British boyfriend John. As an English major, I was totally agog the moment we set foot on that storied, sceptered isle. My hectic brain was teeming with treasured images from literature and movies—all waiting to be experienced. The countryside really was a patchwork of green fields dotted with thatch-roofed cottages and sheep à la Beatrix Potter; each village housed a centuries-old pub, where craggy old men gathered for a pint and a game of darts before closing time; and John’s family actually took tea and cake in the afternoon. When they handed me a hot water bottle to tuck between the sheets in my bed at their cute Hertfordshire home, I nearly swooned.

London also lived up to expectations. Gorgeous parks with huge fields for wandering, antiquarian booksellers, eccentrics speechifying by national monuments, and big, black taxis with little pop-up seats in the center! A nighttime drive along the Thames in a friend’s Bentley sealed the deal. London had it all!

My supreme apple crisp moment came in a tiny village not far outside London, in Oxfordshire. Since it was the seventies, we didn’t have much of an itinerary when we travelled. The idea was to follow your instincts, go where the wind blew, and when you were tired, find a place to sleep. Reservations were for squares.

Early one evening, John knocked on the door of what must have once been a farmhouse and inquired whether the elderly couple living there rented out rooms by the night. Yes, of course, they did have guests in their unheated 200-year-old home. I do not remember whether they had electricity, but let’s just say the light was dim, in August, in England, and they were wearing layers of garments, topped by crocheted shawls and woolly sleeping caps, straight out of Dickens. In the evenings, we sat by the fire and made delightful chit-chat, after which they gingerly climbed the stairs to bed. Then I tried to fall asleep in the damp cold.

English breakfast more than made up for the chill. The couple made toast the old-fashioned way, over the grate in the fireplace, and served it standing-up in silver toast trays! They also served rashers of bacon, eggs, sliced tomatoes, and fried mushrooms. I know there was an oven somewhere, since the woman of the house served us hot apple crisp accompanied by a pewter pitcher of cold cream, undoubtedly drawn from the cows standing in the pasture behind the house. It was a storybook dream for a girl fresh out of the Bronx.

Now, fifty years later, in the chill of Los Angeles’ early June gloom, where breakfast is likely to be one nutritious slice of avocado toast, apple crisp walks a fine line between healthy dessert and sumptuous breakfast. Interestingly, crisps were invented as a British response to rationing during the second World War. Since the recipe calls for much less butter and sugar than a double-crusted apple pie, it was just the thing to serve for a dollop of richness in wartime.

Since I introduced apple crisp to Piper as a dessert, she was shocked when I suggested that she reheat some the next day for breakfast. Who knew that grandma was capable of such decadence?

RECIPE

Green Apple Crisp

½ cup pecans or walnuts, roughly chopped
4 large Granny Smith apples, peeled
1 Tbsp lemon juice
½ cup flour
½ cup oats
½ cup brown sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
5 Tbsps. butter, softened and cut into 10 pieces

Toast the nuts on a sheet in a 350F oven about 10 minutes, shaking occasionally, until golden.

Turn oven up to 375F. Lightly butter a 9-inch round ceramic or glass pie plate.

Cut the apples in quarters. Then slice each quarter into 3 wedges. Place in a bowl, sprinkle with lemon juice, and stir. Set aside.

In another bowl, toss together flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the butter, pinching and rubbing lightly with fingertips or pastry blender until a crumbly mixture is formed. The butter should be evenly distributed, with no dry pieces. Lightly mix in the nuts by hand.

*Testing the whipped cream as a little girl.*

Layer the apples into prepared pan. Evenly sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top to entirely cover. Bake about 40 minutes, until the top is browned, and apples are soft. Set aside to cool, or serve hot topped with whipped cream, crème fraiche, plain yogurt, or vanilla ice cream. Store in the refrigerator up to a week. Reheat to serve. Serves 6

Très Simple Strawberry Tart

Profiteroles for All!