Apple-Cranberry Crisp With Warm Toffee Sauce

~Leslie~'s Note:

Toffee sauce adds richness to this tart autumn-fruit crisp. While nicely gooey, the slightly bitter undertone of "burnt sugar" makes the toffee sauce subtly but not overly sweet. Blatantly stolen from Marilyn Bentz Crowley, with thanks!

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

For the Toffee Sauce

• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ¾ cup whipping cream
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Apple Crisp

• 8 cups peeled and sliced apples
• 1 ½ cups fresh cranberries or 1 ½ cups frozen cranberries , cut in half
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 ½ cups quick-cooking rolled oats
• 6 tablespoons melted butter

Directions:

1. For toffee sauce: Measure water into a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan.
2. Add sugar and butter; do not stir!
3. Measure out whipping cream, set near the stove along with vanilla.
4. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil without stirring. Let bubble briskly for 5 to 7 minutes or until the sugar begins to change colour. Swirl pan gently on the unit until the colour becomes deeply golden.
5. Avert your face (as hot steam rapidly rises) and near the side of the pan, pour in whipping cream. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.
6. Remove pan from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool until lukewarm before pouring into a container; sauce thickens as it cools. (Once cooled, sauce can be covered and refrigerated for up to a week.)
7. Warm sauce in a small saucepan or briefly in the microwave before serving.
8. For crisp, evenly spread fruit in a 9 x 13-inch (3-L) baking dish or pan.
9. Stir brown sugar with flour and cinnamon; mix in oats. Pour in butter; stir until crumbs form and topping is evenly moistened.
10. Spread over fruit and bake in preheated 350ºF (180ºC) oven 40 minutes, or until fruit is soft when tested with a skewer. Crisp is delicious warm or at room temperature.
11. To serve, pour about 1 tbsp (15 mL) of toffee syrup onto each serving plate, cover with a portion of the crisp and drizzle a bit more sauce over top.

Reviews

[Rita~]

OHHHH MYYY!!!!! I made for 2 and 4 would have enjoyed and been very pleased. I made the toffee topping in the microwave for about 4 minutes stopping to check it almost every minute. I spilt maybe almost 1/2 the cream. So I added only 1/8 of a cup. I must say I burnt my mouth tasting it!!!! But it was yummy so I just left it. I used 1 1/2 apples granny and a red of some sort. This was soo SO SOOO GOOD! A must make! I made for ZWT 6. Thanks for the wonderful eats!!!

[RonaNZ]

Loved the toffee sauce - although I think I didn't boil it long enough. Still tasted great. I used frozen blueberries as well. Nice easy recipe for the topping. Thanks. Made for ZWT4.

[Kittencalskitchen]

Excellent crisp Les! I made this using frozen blueberries instead of cranberries which worked out very well, I used half light brown sugar and white sugar for the toffee sauce SO GOOD!! I am looking forward to making this again soon, thanks for sharing hon!....Kitten:)