Guest Author - Shelley Pogue

This Tart Apple Cranberry Crumble is very easy to prepare dessert, and will be a delicious treat for any sweet after meal treat. This can be served plain if you like, or it could be even better, Ala mode. I prefer to make homemade ice cream, but if I am short on time a good store brand will do. The local store brand I prefer is Blue Bell ice cream, it is a very good brand that is made in Texas. If you do not have the time, or want to make your own. I recommend purchasing a good brand at your local grocery store.

The prep time is very minimal for this fruit crumble, and there will not be much effort spent on cleanup after you get it into the oven. And it is a very tasty dessert for almost any occasion.

Ingredients you will need:

4 Cups of Apples, I prefer Granny Smith, but use what you like
2 Cups of fresh cranberries
2 Cups of sugar
1/4 Cup of brown sugar
2-3 Ounces of a good Brandy, if you will drink it then it is okay to eat it. I prefer not to use any wine that I would not serve at my table.
1 1/2 Cup of rolled oats
3/4 Cup of butter
1/2 Cup of flour
1/2 cup of almonds
1/2 cup of walnuts

You will need to preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If you are using a gas oven you may need to play with the temperature if you are prone to burn, or over cook things. At this time you will need to get your baking pan, and grease it well. The baking pan you will need to use should be a shallow one that will hold 2-3 quarts. At this time you will need to combine all of your apples, cranberries, and sugar, and brown sugar, into the greased pan. You will then drizzle the Brandy over the mixture. The alcohol will burn off, it is just to add extra flavor.

You will need to have a separate mixing bowl handy, so you can mix the other ingredients to incorporate a good coating of sugar. So, in this separate mixing bowl you will add your rolled oats, sugar, flour, almonds, and walnuts. You will give this a quick toss to get them evenly mixed together. You will sprinkle this mixture over the fruit and sugar mixture in the greased baking pan. While you are doing this make sure you are coating the fruit mixture evenly. This will help for a few reasons, it will keep it from burning, and it will help it cook evenly through the fruit crumble.

Once you get all of your fruit crumble mixture into the baking pan, there is one last step, you will add the butter. You will need to cut pats of butter, and place on top of your rolled oat crust. This will give it flavor, and help with the browning process. After 15 minutes in the oven you will need to turn 180 degrees. This will help during the cooking process, to make sure it cooks evenly, and to ensure even browning on the crust. You will cook approximately 30-45 minutes or until done.

The yield for this dish is 8 servings.