[Sca-cooks] Crumbles and Brown Bettys (OOP)

[Gwynydd Of Culloden]

I have done a bit of searching on-line and have come up with the follow
recipes.  I have found a version of Apple Brown Betty which has rolled oats,
but it, like the one with bread crumbs, differs from apple crumble in that
the oats and fruit are layered.  In a crumble, the fruit mixture is topped
with the oat mixture.  I have not tried any of these recipes, but it is hard
to muck up a crumble and, I suspect, not easy to ruin a brown betty too
*smile*.  The recipes look like I would expect them to.

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines a brown betty as "a baked pudding of
apples, bread crumbs, and spices" and gives the date 1864 for it.  The best
definition I can find of a crumble is "A British dessert in which raw fruit
is topped with a crumbly pastry mixture and baked" - from the Epicurious
food dictionary
(http://www.epicurious.com/run/fooddictionary/browse?entry_id=7461)

Okay, now the recipes *smile*.

This recipe is pretty much what I consider a "proper" apple crumble.  As has
already been mentioned "apple and ..." crumbles are also common.  The most
usual, as far as I know, is rhubarb and apple - in this case, the fruit is
stewed before it is topped with the crumble.  In fact, stewing the apples
(or other fruit) is a common variation, if memory serves me.

Recipe for Apple Crumble

Ingredients:

6-7 cups peeled and cored apples
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
dash of lemon juice
For the crumble topping:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
nutmeg and allspice to taste
1 stick butter or margarine
Directions:
Peel and core apples. Add sugar and lemon juice and mix with apples. Place
mixture in greased 7 X 11 baking dish.

Now for the crumble. It's just simply a mixture of dry ingredients that you
sprinkle over the top. Just combine oats, flour, granulated sugar and brown
sugar.

Next add salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and allspice to taste.

To make the crumble, just take a stick of butter and chop it up with the dry
mixture into bits about the size of a pea. Now just spread the crumbles over
the apples and bake it at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

P. ALLEN SMITH GARDENS (r)
COPYRIGHT 1997
Hortus, Ltd.

http://www.pallensmith.com/features/highlights/h2409c.htm

This version uses flour rather than oats - also good, but not quite "right"
in my mind *smile*.

Apple Crumble
By Marianne Chereau (French)


Takes 30 minutes to prepare
Cooking time 30-45 minutes

You'll need:

4 apples
flour
sugar
butter
a dish

1. Preheat the oven to 450'F
2. Cut the apples in thin slices and put them in the dish. There's no need
to do it nicely.
3. Once this is done, you have to make the top with the flour, butter and
sugar. Here there's no real proportion, you have to guess how much you will
need to cover everything. The important thing is that there must be as much
flour as there is butter and sugar, in other words: sugar + butter = flour
4. First mix the flour and sugar, then add the butter cut in small pieces
but not melted. Work on it with your hands to incorporate the butter.
5. The result should look like sand. Spread this on the apples and place in
the oven.

note: before baking, the thickness of the layer of apples should be at least
one inch, same for the "sand"

http://deil.lang.uiuc.edu/Exchange/cookbook/ds/apple.html

This is the version of brown betty which has oats rather than bread crumbs.

APPLE BROWN BETTY

Sometimes called Apple Crisp, this delicious baked apple dessert has a
crumbly sweet topping that sets it apart from other baked apple recipes.
1/2 cup of margarine, softened
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup water
4 cups of apples, peeled and sliced (recommend using Courtland or similar
apples)


1. Combine the brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, and margarine and
stir with a fork until well-mixed and crumbly.


2. Add one third of the apples, then one third of the crumb mixture to a
greased, 1 and 1/2 quart baking dish. Repeat until all apples and crumb
mixture are added.

3. Pour the 1/4 cup of water over the mixture.

4. Bake for 30 minutes at 375.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream

http://portlandme.about.com/library/blrecp10.htm


Apple Brown Betty


4 cups thinly sliced pared apples or 1 can (16 oz.) pie apples, drained
2 cups bread cubes or torn bread pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tbsp. margarine
1/4 cup hot water
Grease 1-quart baking dish. Arrange half of apples on bottom of dish. Follow
with half of bread, then half of sugar. Repeat layers. Sprinkle cinnamon
over top, cut margarine in pieces and lay them on top, finish by pouring hot
water over all. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes, uncover and bake 10
minutes longer. Serve warm or chilled. Serves 4.

http://cancernet.nci.nih.gov/eating_hints/applebetty.html