(Morcster Chef) Apple Crumble - Ch. 101 (Patreon)

It took a good bit longer to finish peeling the apples than Malissa had expected. By the time the two of them had finished removing the skin from the last fruit, nearly ten minutes had passed. Arek shifted the pile of peels out of their way and claimed one of the apples. With several swift cuts, it fell apart into multiple pieces. Arek tossed the core aside. His knife flashed as he chopped the remainder of the apple into bite sized chunks.

Malissa imitated his motions. This part was considerably easier than peeling the apples, if only because it only required a few straight cuts rather than the tedious pulling motions that the former task called for. The two of them easily finished dissecting the apples a few minutes later.

“Mix the apples together with two spoons of white sugar and a small pinch of cinnamon,” Arek instructed as he turned to examine the oven beside their station. He fiddled with the knobs for a few moments before it hummed to life, drawing a pleased grin from the orc. “The sugar will help make a syrup when it mixes with the juice that leaks out of the apples. As for the cinnamon, it just goes very well with anything apple related.”

Malissa was already moving before Arek had finished talking. She grabbed the bag of white sugar at the back of the counter and pulled it closer. She added the instructed amount of sugar to the apples and returned her attention to the assorted ingredients to scan for the cinnamon.

Arek unclipped a small tin from his bandolier and handed it to Malissa.

“Thanks,” she said, unscrewing the lid and taking a small pinch of cinnamon. She glanced at the orc to make sure she hadn’t taken too much. Arek gave her an encouraging nod, so Malissa sprinkled it over the apples.

After putting the tin back together and returning it to Arek, Malissa set about roughly tossing the bowl to make sure the ingredients mixed as well as possible. While she worked, Arek knelt to peer inside one of the cabinets beside the oven.

He reached inside and shuffled around a bit, accidentally banging something several times and drawing annoyed glances from the rest of the kitchen. With a sheepish grin, the orc withdrew his hand, holding a large and square glass bowl. Arek placed the bowl on the counter beside Malissa.

“Is this what we’re going to bake it in?” Malissa asked.

“It is,” Arek said, taking the bowl containing the apple mixture from Malissa. He poured it into the glass container and set it aside. “And that’s all we have to do for the filling as well. All that remains is the crust, which happens to be my favorite part.”

Arek pulled the bag of flour over and added a healthy amount to a clean bowl. He followed it up with an equal amount of oats and a cup of brown sugar. After a moment of consideration, Arek tossed in a dash of cinnamon as well.

“Can’t go wrong with a little cinnamon. Just don’t put too much. A pinch goes a long way,” Arek advised. “Now, the final part of the recipe. Could you give me the butter again?”

Malissa produced the glass jar from within her bag of colding. Arek took several large spoons of butter, dumping it into the mixture before claiming two forks and starting to mix everything together. Malissa had to keep herself from chuckling. Because of the illusion masking his true appearance, it appeared as if Arek was holding the fork by the very tip at the back.

“Why are you using forks to mix the dough?” Malissa asked. “I don’t think you’ve ever had issue using your hands before.”

“We need to keep the butter cold. The heat from my hands would melt it, which would make our dough much denser and more put together. We want the crust to be flaky and crumbly, and the way to do that is through cold butter. When we put the apple crumble into the oven, the butter will melt, leaving tiny holes throughout the dough. That’s what gives it the crumbly texture,” Arek explained, continuing to mix the contents within the bowl.

Malissa nodded her understanding and Arek proclaimed the dough sufficiently mixed. He sprinkled it over the top of the apples, patting it down in a few places to make the crust mostly even, and then inserted the whole dish into the oven.

“Now what?” Malissa asked.

Arek cocked an eyebrow. Malissa sighed and grabbed some of the bowls they’d used, taking them to the sink. It took several minutes to completely wash and dry everything. The two of them returned the pots and utensils they’d taken to the wall once they’d finished.

“Okay, for real this time,” Malissa said, drying her hands off on her apron.

“Nothing,” Arek replied. “Now we wait. The crumble will be finished in about forty minutes, and I didn’t have plans to make a fourth dish. We can’t be cooking all day after all. We need to get Ming’s eyes checked out further.”

“Right. I got a little carried away,” Malissa said, rubbing the back of her head with an awkward smile. “Hopefully nothing further comes of that. I’m trying to be hopeful, as Magus said it didn’t seem like a big issue.”

“We can hope,” Arek agreed. “But…with this party? If the Starpiercers popped out of Ming’s head and challenged me to a cook off, I don’t think I would be overly surprised.”

“Fair enough,” Malissa said, chuckling. “Assuming we don’t have to deal with teleporting goons, we’ve also got to drop by the auction. We’ve got a lot of stuff to sell, and I think we’re all long overdue some reckless spending.”

“I’m not going to argue there,” Arek said. “I’m very interested to see what they’ve got for sale. It’s been so many years since I was last in an auction house, and that was on the other side of the kingdom.”