Storiography is the documentary work of designer Christiana Aretta.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 5 apples, preferably a baking variety
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, straight from the fridge

Canon EOS 5D with ST-E2 transmitter. 180 sec @ f/6.7, ISO 200. 580EXII @1/8th power bounced off back wall.

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Peel & core the apples and cut into thin slices. Grease a 9×9 baking dish or similarly sized pie pan (or 3 small IKEA baking dishes). Combine brown sugar and spices in large bowl. Add apple slices, toss until evenly coated and put in baking dish/pie pan. See apples with coating and without in topmost pic.
2. Mix flour, sugar and butter in medium bowl. Using a food processor or your fingertips to blend ingredients until they resemble a coarse meal. (It is worth fighting the urge to just plunge your hands into the bowl and knead that dough into a textureless, sticky blob. It’s great fun but doesn’t produce great pastry.) Spread flour mixture evenly over apples. See pic above for example.
3. Bake on oven middle rack for 20 mins. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking until the crust is golden brown and apples are bubbly, about 30 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Postprandial Notes: The apple part was a little sweet for me – next time I make this, I will omit the sugar for the apple mixture (and use better quality apples!). I will also make the crisp part in the food processor – I think I made the dough too consistent for a nice crumbly texture. I thought these apples needed a bit of lemon juice for tartness but a nice baking apple might not need it.

You could also definitely experiment with adding walnuts, dried ginger, dried cranberries or raisins, or mixing in other fruit like peaches or rhubarb (ok, not exactly a fruit but…).

Camera Notes: Canon EOS 5D with ST-E2 transmitter. 180 sec @ f/6.7, ISO 200. Background flash: 580EXII @1/8th power and wide angle diffuser. Cutting mat for gobo. Key light: 580EXII, gridded and zoomed to 108mm @1/4th power. White bowls for stand-ins.

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