Things I learned about apple crisp and the best $20 you'll ever spend

For various reasons, I found myself burdened with eight super ripe apples this week. What did I decide to do? Bake an apple crisp, of course!

I ran into some trouble a few minutes in, when I realized I lacked not only cinnamon but also oats. So I threw in some apples, lemon, water, honey, some weird 8 grain cereal my housemate has, walnuts, brown sugar and a bit of butter. How bad could it be? Apple crisp turned out to be fairly forgiving and pretty delicious, in fact. Especially with some vanilla ice cream. Doesn't seem too fattening, either. More like a baked apple dissected than a baked good.

I topped it with a bit of chocolate sauce too. I use Jacques Torres hot chocolate mix, melted with a tiny bit of milk. Actually, I use it on everything - yogurt, ice cream, frozen yogurt, cakes, mixed with fruit compote (which is just frozen fruit defrosted) when I'm feeling a bit chubs but want something sweet. It's a bit pricey (~$20 for a tin - available here) but lasts forever and is AMAZING! And, according the box, it has more antioxidants than a cup of green tea. So health-conscious.