It's All About Ratio

I don't like warm fruit. There's something about mushy out-of-the-oven produce that I don't enjoy. Therefore, I don't particularly like pie. Now, I shouldn't say that I don't like any kind of pie or that if it was the only dessert I could find in the house that I wouldn't eat it (because I would, just with a big dollop of ice cream on top). I do enjoy pumpkin pie, chocolate silk pie, or some variety of pudding pie, pretty much anything that is served cold and involves little to no fruit (yes, I know, pumpkin is technically a fruit, but pumpkin pie is different. It doesn't count. At least taste-wise.).

Now why, you might ask, am I featuring an apple crisp recipe? It involves fruit and is typically served warm. Aha! That's where the title of my post comes in. Ratio. In this particular apple crisp recipe (which has been my mom's favorite for years), there is a ratio of about 1 part apples to 3 parts streusel topping. The 1:3 ratio pretty much makes this recipe, in a word...perfect. At least for my taste buds. But of course I can't just eat it like that! The warm apple taste might seep through to my taste buds! So just to cover up any remaining warm fruit flavor, I add a scoop of ice cream (I use a frozen yogurt/ice cream blend) and drizzle some extra caramel on top. Yum! I do make sure the crisp is warm just so the ice cream gets all melty and delicious. The apple crisp is pretty much just a great excuse to eat ice cream. And you just can't beat the smell of apple crisp baking in the oven. It smells so fantastic that it takes all your self-control not to eat half of it right then and there. If they could package that smell in a candle, I'd purchase it. (But it might make me hungry...)