Apple crisp
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Apple crisp is an American dessert consisting of baked apples topped with a crispy crust. Ingredients usually include cooked apples, butter, sugar, flour, cinnamon, and often oats and brown sugar, ginger, and/or nutmeg. Many different kinds of fruit can substituted for apples, such as peaches, berries, pears, etc. One of the most common variants is 'apple rhubarb crisp', in which the rhubarb provides a tart contrast to the apples. It is an easy to make and tasty alternative to apple pie and apple cobbler.
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[edit] History
Apple crisp evolved in the United States out of other apple dishes such as apple pudding, apple cobbler and apple pie. However, apple crisp is a relatively new invention. It is notably absent from the first edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (1896), which is a comprehensive collection of American recipes. The earliest reference to apple crisp in print occurs in 1924, with a recipe in the Everybody's Cook Book: A Comprehensive Manual of Home Cookery, Isabel Ely Lord [Harcout Brace and Company:New York] 1924 (p. 239). In the same year, it also makes an appearance in a newspaper article in the Appleton Post Crescent on Tuesday, December 09, 1924 (Appleton,Wisconsin). Despite its relatively recent invention, apple crisp has become an American tradition especially during the fall season when apples are plentiful. It even graces the menus of discerning restaurants throughout the country.
[edit] Variants
There are a number of desserts that employ apples with sweet toppings.
Apple Brown Betty (or apple pudding) consists of alternating layers of apples and sweetened buttered bread crumbs or crackers, often with a sauce.
Apple cobbler (also known as apple slump, apple grunt, and apple pandowdy) is an old recipe in which the baked apples are topped with a biscuit-like batter made with flour, milk, butter, and leavening agents. The topping is dropped onto the top of the apples in clumps, which have a 'cobbled' appearance, thus the name.
Apple crumble is a British variant of apple crisp that originated during World War II food rationing. The topping is also made of butter, flour, oats, etc, but it is smoother and resembles breadcrumbs. Care must be taken to balance the correct amount of crumble with the fruit, else the filling may seep through and spoil this crust. Crumble is traditionally served with custard or, nowadays ice cream.
Finally Eve's pudding is a British dessert that is essentially a sponge cake on top of the apples. The name may originate from the biblical reference to Eve and the apple in the garden of Eden.
[edit] Recipe
Apple Crisp
5 cups of apples
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup flour
1/4 pound butter (about 1/2 cup)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
add lemon to taste
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Preheat a conventional oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Thinly slice the apples and place them in a buttered pan, and sprinkle them with lemon for flavor and to prevent them from turning brown. Peeling the apples is traditional, but not required. Add 1/3 cup of water and cinnamon to taste.
Meanwhile, to make the topping combine the butter, sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg, and crumble the ingredients in a bowl with your fingers to create a uniform mixture. Cover the apples with the topping and bake for 30-45 minutes or until the apples are soft and the topping is crisped. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream. Loose oats can be sprinkled sparingly on the surface of the topping before baking for added texture.
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