Apple & Quince Pie with Cheese Streusel
The holiday season is well-nigh upon us, and with it comes tinseling, caroling, and streuseling. (At least, in a Currier-&-Ives kind of way; the modern holidays are more about shopping, gift-carding, and cabbage soup dieting. I think I prefer the tintype version.)
Traditional streusel (streuen means “to strew” in German) consists of butter, flour, and sugar blended into crumbs with either a pastry blender or two knives. It’s sprinkled — or gently strewn — across the tops of coffeecakes and pies to create a rich, sweet top layer that manages to be crispy and buttery and the same time. Streusels are an easy way to add visual and flavor appeal to many a baked good. (And yes, you can use a natural sugar like sucanat or date sugar in place of the refined white sugar; you can also use whole-wheat flour or brown rice flour or any other whole-grain flour in place of the white — I just wouldn’t use a bean or starch flour such as chickpea or potato. Their strong flavors would overpower the dish.)
If you’d like to stray a bit from the traditional sweet streusel and go for a savory one, cheese and nuts work well, too. Technically, it’s not a “streusel” if you’re not blending the ingredients into crumbs, but like a true streusel, it’s a quick topping that can adorn many dishes. If you’re making an apple pie, for example, hard cheeses and dry nuts such as Cheddar and almonds pair well. Pears would be delicious topped with soft goat cheese and pinenuts. (Both apples and pears are strongly-flavored and can stand up to strongly-flavored cheeses.)
Softer fruits like peach and plum would be better suited to a smoother, richer cheese-and-nut combination, like Havarti and macadamia. Brie and hazelnut would be stunning with full-throated berries like cranberries or raspberries. You could even combine one of the ideas of a traditional streusel — i.e., the sweetness — into your cheese-and-nuttiness by drizzling a bit of honey over the top of everything. Just tweaking the topping of a standard holiday pie could turn dessert into a new experience.
Happy streuseling!
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