How Recipes Find Us

The Journey to Making Apple Crumble My Sweetest Tradition

In her younger days, Ami, my mother, was known for her desserts. She’d make gulab jamun, syrupy and sweet orbs soaked in a saffron-scented syrup. There was also her kheer, a Pakistani-style cardamom-laced rice pudding, which always had the perfect amount of chopped almonds stirred in, adding a delicate crunch.

We lived in a quiet suburb of Washington, D.C., surrounded by mostly white families who didn’t understand our culture, especially our food. Ami, my mother, was so generous with her desserts and wanted to build community through food. She would often ask me to take a bowl of her latest creation over to the neighbor’s house. Standing outside Mrs. Ferris’s home, one street down, I’d knock on the door and hand it over to her, feeling a little awkward. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my mother’s desserts—I did—but I couldn’t help wondering what Mrs. Ferris and her American family would think of them. Why couldn’t my mom bake a Betty Crocker cake or make chocolate chip cookies like everyone else’s mom?

It wasn’t until much later that I realized the brilliance of what my mother had created. Her desserts were never just about taste—they were about her hands shaping something special, about the care she poured into every step that no box mix could replicate. But Pakistani desserts, as beautiful as they are, have never been my favorite.

When I left home, I wanted to find desserts that felt simpler, closer to my everyday life. The first one I truly fell for was apple crumble. The idea that you could take something as simple as fruit, mix it with flour, sugar, and butter, and turn it into something warm, sweet, and caramelised along the edges, resonated with me. My father’s love for apple desserts must have shaped mine—it feels like something I’ve carried from him, even without realizing it.

I think my first encounter with crumble was as a student at Cambridge University, where it appeared regularly in the dining hall. It wasn’t fancy—just diced apples (sometimes with the addition of rhubarb) under a buttery, crumbly topping, served with a dollop of custard. Even if the custard came from a box, it felt comforting after a day of sitting through econometrics’ lectures.

When I moved to Canada, crumble found its way back to me. Surrounded by beautiful apples at the Wychwood farmer’s market, I couldn’t resist the urge to try making it myself. It felt natural, almost intuitive. The first time I pulled a crumble out of the oven, golden and bubbling at the edges, it felt like mine.

It’s funny how recipes find us. They don’t have to come with a history to matter. Sometimes, they simply arrive at the right moment, ready to be folded into the story of who we are becoming. For me, apple crumble is one of those recipes. It didn’t come from my mother or my grandmother, but it feels like home all the same.

Over time, crumble became a small ritual. I didn’t need a reason—just some fruit, some flour, some nuts, some oats, and a craving for warmth. Each time I made it, it became a little more mine, a recipe shaped by my hands and my taste.

We often hold inherited recipes in high regard, and rightly so—they carry the weight of memory and connection. But there’s something equally profound about the ones we adopt, the ones that choose us as much as we choose them. They remind us that tradition can begin at any time, that a simple act of cooking can create its own story,

Now, it’s a small ritual I share with my son. He loves it with vanilla ice cream, and so do I. Each time I make it, it becomes more mine, a tradition that feels both new and timeless.

Cardamom-Scented Apple Crumble

INGREDIENTS:

Crumble/Topping:

• 1½ c/125g  old-fashioned rolled oats

• 1 c /120g All-purpose flour 

• ½ c/100g  light or dark brown sugar

• ½ c/60g crushed walnuts

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp ground cardamom

• ½ tsp sea salt 

• 12  Tbsp (1½ sticks/175g) unsalted butter

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Filling:

• 2 lbs/900g mix of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples (~6)

• 1 lemon, juiced

• 2 Tbsp cornstarch

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 

PREPARATION:

You need a 10-in/25-cm pie/baking dish. Heat oven to 350F/180C Melt butter in a saucepan or in microwave. Allow to cool. Prep the crumble mixture: mix oats, flour, cinnamon, cardamom, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, cardamom, and sea salt. For the filling, peel, core, and dice apples into ¼-in/.6-cm pieces. Toss in lemon juice. Transfer to baking dish. Whisk cornstarch and cinnamon together. Sprinkle on apples and mix to ensure apples are evenly coated. Pour melted butter and vanilla extract over the crumble mixture and stir till combined. Spread evenly over apples.  Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or till the juices are bubbling around the edges of the baking dish and the topping is golden