A local orchard messaged me this week that starting Friday the Gala and Honeycrisp apples would be ready to pick, and it made me feel like fall had arrived. Honeycrisp are a little expensive for my taste, but I love Gala apples. They have that perfect blend of tart and sweet plus the crisp, fresh texture. I know everyone has their favorite apple for eating, and cooking or baking. What I tend to do is buy a selection and the kids and I eat them fresh then as they age I use them in cooking and baking. If you have a favorite multi-purpose apple, let us know in the comments. I'd love to know everyone's favorites.
Today I have a Apple Brown Betty recipe which is a classic, and can be made from scratch easily. Yes, it breaks my rule of avoiding dishes with complicated directions, but once you read through them it's a fairly simple dessert. The brown betty recipe as well as the buttered crumbs and hard sauce are all from my copy of Foods and Homemaking by Carlotta C. Greer, published in 1933.
Apple Brown Betty
Brown Betty is sometimes called scalloped apples.
2 cups soft bread crumbs
2 tbsp. butter
3 cups apples, chopped or cut into bits
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup water
1/2 lemon, juice and grated rind
Butter the bread crumbs (see below). Wash, pare, and core the apples, then chop. Add the remaining ingredients to the apples. In the bottom of a buttered baking dish put 1/4 of the crumbs. Put 1/2 of the apple mixture on top of the crumbs. Add 1/4 more of the crumbs, and top with the remainder of the apples. On top of this put the remaining crumbs.
Bake in a moderate oven of 375 degrees (my oven seems to run hotter so I used 350) for 40-60 minutes until the apples are tender and the crumbs brown. Cover the dish during the first 20 minutes of baking. Serve hot with cream or hard sauce (see below).
Buttered Bread Crumbs
2 cups soft bread crumbs
2 tbsp. butter
Put the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is melted. Add the crumbs; stir to mix. Do not brown the crumbs.
Hard Sauce
1/3 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Cream the butter. Add the sugar gradually and continue to cream the mixture. Add the vanilla. Mix. Chill the sauce. Use it on HOT desserts.
NOTES: If you've never made your own bread crumbs it's very simple. Below is what to do for 2 cups of crumbs, which is what the recipe for the brown betty needs.
Homemade Soft Bread Crumbs
You'll need:
8-9 slices of homemade or purchased bread
This will make about 2 cups of crumbs depending on how thick the bread is. If the bread is very soft allow it to sit out on the counter uncovered for a couple of hours before cutting.
Remove the crust with a sharp knife, and use for something else, or chop and put out for the wildlife.
Using a serrated knife, or a chopper, cut the crumbs over and over until they resemble crumbs. If you start to do this and the bread is smashing rather than cutting, let it sit out longer and try again in a bit.
It's really simple if you have a good knife or a chopper. Once the bread has been turned into crumbs continue with the buttered crumb directions above.
On OFL we have apple recipes galore:
~Brenda
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