Saturday, January 7, 2012

This One's Crummy

What did I do with the leftover applesauce cake?

While I had a LOT of recommendations to make bread pudding, I didn’t think the cake would hold together enough, nor did I expect anyone (other than me) to eat it. Since the cake was so dry and crumbly, I crumbled it all the way and toasted it, like fine grit bread crumbs, in a “slow oven” (about 200degF) for well over 30 minutes. Then the idea of a fruit crumble with a breadcrumb-like top occurred to me.

Well…! The fridge still had some fresh cranberries, a couple of apples, and sweet potatoes. There’s all this vanilla syrup around. Let’s experiment!

It worked surprisingly well. It smelled delicious. It must be terribly sweet. I don’t know… had to leave the warm crumble on the stove for DH to take to our Sunday School taste-testers. We’re off to the pool…

Harvest Crumble Sweet potato, cranberry, apple with crumb topping and white sauce

(inspired by Food Network’s Apple Crumble with Cardamom-Vanilla Caramel Sauce from chef Melissa d’Arabian)

Sweet potato (about 2 c.), diced small (about ½” cubes) and par-cooked until soft
Apple (2), sliced thinly
Cranberries (about 1 c.), chopped
Lemon (zest and juice)

Mix ingredients together and place in baking dish. Mine fit in a standard quiche pan.

Crumb topping:

I used 4 T. butter, melted,
mixed with about 2 c. leftover applesauce cake, crumbled and toasted.

Sauce:

1 c. vanilla syrup
1 T. butter
½ c. yogurt (the recipe called for cream, but I was out… so I substituted!)

Warm vanilla syrup gently in small saucepan. Add butter; when butter is melted and bubbly, remove from heat. Add yogurt and whisk until smooth. Pour over crumble.

Bake, covered, at 325 degF for about 30 minutes, until it is heated through and smells delicious. Remove cover and bake another 10 minutes until top is crispy.

Prepare sauce and pour over top. It’s VERY sweet; enjoy with coffee and milk!

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