This apple crisp recipe differs somewhat from most apple crisp desserts. Most will have an incredibly sweet brown sugar, flour, butter, and oat topping. The topping for this one is much more like a biscuit topping.
It is almost more like a cobbler than it is a crisp. But just like a crisp, it is a beautifully autumnal dessert that your family is sure to love.
It is perfect made with the fresh autumn apples which are available at present. But don't let that limit you! It is also delicious made with other Autumn or even Summer fruits!
Why not try it with Peaches or Plums. Nectarines would also work well, as would Pears, Raspberries, Blueberries, or Cherries.
You could even do a combination of fruits. Some delectable ones would be Peaches and Raspberries. Or Peaches and Blueberries. Pear and Apple go very well together, as do a mix of berries. We like it best with apples however.
I like to use a mix of apples if I can. I combine some tart cooking apples with some sweet eating apples. Bramley are the cooking apple of choice over here in the UK. They break down to a nice and fluffy, allmost applesauce texture.
Granny Smiths are tart, (not quite as tart as the Bramley), but tend to hold their shape better when cooked. Sweet crisp eating apples add a special sweetness to the mix. I like Pink Ladies.
Combining more than one kind of apple will give you a mix of tender apples suspended in a thicker sauce. If you use more cooking apples than sweet apples you may want to add a few tablespoons of sugar to the mix so as to prevent it from being too tart.
You can even use canned apples, which makes it that much easier. My first husband came from a farm family. They had dairy cows, sheep, chickens and orchards. They also grew vegetables for the local cannery. That would vary year to year.
One year their fields would be filled with peas, and another it might be beans or even carrots. They also grew their own feed for their livestock.
They grew a variety of apples. A delicious mix of eating and cooking apples. Autumn was always a hive of activity as everyone worked hard to get it all in before the really cold weather arrived.
Nothing was wasted. Even the drops were used. They were sent to the Scotian Gold factory to be made into apple juice or pressed into cider.
My MIL was very good at putting things up of course. Shelves in her cold cellar would be lined with jars of produce she had put up, including apples. There were also bins of fresh apples that, surprisingly, lasted all Winter almost into the spring.
I learnt a lot from Lois about cooking. She was a fabulous cook. Most farm wives are great cooks. They need to be. There were always extra mouths at the dinner table and during harvest season this could add up to quite a few extra mouths.
Quite often labourers would pick and choose where they wanted to work according to the kinds of meals the Farm wife would prepare.
Being a good cook made a huge difference to the quality and quantity of labourers you could and would get!
Lois passed away several years ago at the age of 100, having outlived her husband by a good many years. I have always been very grateful to Lois for all that she taught me about being a good wife and a good cook.
She was no shirker of hard work, that's for sure. She was cooking and crafting right on up into her old age, and with care managed to live in her own home right up to the end.
This dessert reminded me of the kind of dessert she would have baked. It has her name written all over it. Old fashioned. Simple. Delicious.
Because I use a mix of apples, the filling has plenty of texture. There is soft saucy bits of apple and firmer bits of apple, all mixed togther. Quite nice really.
You could make short work of cutting the apples by using an apple corer/slicer. I think, however the wedges it makes would be a bit too thick, so if you use one, cut them in half yet again.
This went down a real treat served warm from the oven with ice cold Vanilla ice cream. I do have ice cream scoops somewhere in two sizes, but do you think I can ever find them when I need them? Nada. Not at all.
That's what happens when you have a chef's kitchen crammed into a kitchen that was not meant to be used by anyone who actually likes to cook. Too much stuff, not enough space, equals a degree of frustration that varies from day to day. I really need to get rid of some stuff.
Things would run a lot smoother if I had less stuff. I keep telling myself that, but then I look at things and can't quite bring myself to part with them, because . . . you guessed it, they might come in handy one day.
Anyways, do make this Apple crisp for yourself. I think you will be pleasantly pleased with the results. Moreishly delicious especially with something cold and sweet spooned over top.
Some other apple desserts you might enjoy are:
QUICK AND EASY APPLE TARTS - Perfect for when you are short on time and yet still want to serve a delicious and impressive dessert!
DUTCH APPLE TURNOVERS - Flaky pastry filled with plenty of apples, sweetened with white and brown sugar, and lightly spiced with cinnamon, freshy grated nutmeg, cardamom and a tiny bit of cloves.
Apple Crisp with Sweet Biscuit Topping
Ingredients:
- 5 large apples, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick wedges
- 1 cup (140g) plain flour (all purpose)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (95g) granulated sugar
- 1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
- 4 TBS butter, melted and cooled
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 7 by 9 inch baking dish, or an 8 inch square baking dish. Arrange the apple slices in the baking dish in an even layer.
- Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in the sugar and salt. Add the egg and stir/cut it into the flour mixture with a fork or a pastry blender until crumbly. It should have a mix of wet and dry bits. This is how it should look. Sprinkle this evenly over top of the apples.
- Drizzle the melted butter over top evenly. Sprinkle with the cinnamon.
- Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the apples are tender with juices bubbling around the edges of the dish.
- Let rest for 20 minutes before serving warm. Spoon out from the dish and accompany with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream or some pouring cream.
notes:
So the virus is rising again. They say we are into the Second Wave now. I don't know what to think about that. Its a tiny bit frightening to say the least. Stay safe and stay happy! And while you are at it, enjoy some apple crisp! This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Cheddar & Corn Chowder
ingredients:
- 3 TBS butter
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 large potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 bay leaf, broken in half to release the oils
- 1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds, bruised
- 1/4 tsp dried sage
- 3 TBS plain flour
- 480ml chicken stock
- 300ml light cream or milk (1 1/4 cups)
- 225g frozen corn niblets (1 1/2 cups)
- 2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
- 2 TBS chopped fresh chives
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 60ml dry white wine (1/4 cup)
- 200g grated strong cheddar cheese (2 cups) plus more to sprinkle
- salt and black pepper to taste
instructions:
How to cook Cheddar & Corn Chowder
- Melt the butter in a saucepan with a heavy bottom. Add the onion, potato, broken bay leaf, cumin seed and sage. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the onion is softened without browning. Stir in the flour. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes. Don't let it brown.
- Whisk in the stock and the milk. Bring to the boil, whisking constantly until smooth. Reduce to medium low and simmer, stirring often for about 30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the corn, parsley, chives, nutmeg and wine. Simmer for a further 5 to 6 minutes until heated through. Discard the bay leaf. Stir in the cheese and heat over low heat, just to melt the cheese. Don't let the soup boil. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and black pepper. Serve hot, ladled into heated bowls with a spoonful of cheddar sprinkled over top of each.
We had a windstorm a week or so ago and our tomato plants all blew over. I was force to pick them all. Most were green. I had thought to make some green tomato chow, but alas time got away from me and they ripened in the bowl before I could get that done. That was okay however because I love tomatoes and I am never at a loss as to what to do with tomatoes!
I quite simply love tomatoes and have been collecting ways to use them for years and years and years. This recipe today comes from a small green notebook which is filled with lovely home style old fashioned recipes, laboriously copied by myself years ago from books I took out from the local library. Unfortunately I was not quite so good at keeping a record of which book they came from. I can date this notebook to the years I was living in Meaford, Ontario, and I think it might have been from a book called Canadian Cookbook by Elizabeth Baird, but I could be wrong, so do forgive me if I am. In any case it is a delicious recipe.
I decided to make Todd a treat today. I have next to no will power when it comes to cake and so I have been trying to do mug cakes when I can. That way he gets to enjoy a bit of an indulgence and I have nothing to tempt me. This one turned out really REALLY lovely.
I baked Todd a delicious Plum Pudding Cake with the last of the plums from our tree last week. It has taken me week to finally get to the point where I could post about it. Trust me when I say that wasn't because I didn't want to. Too many recipes, not enough time! Todd adores this tasty pudding cake. I like it too, although I can't really eat much more than a smidgen of it. Sigh . . .
When the children were growing up I used to make up bottles and bottles of jams, jellies, pickles and conserves every year. It was just a matter of course and something which I really loved to do and it all got used. The end of August and months of September/October my house was filled with the smells of a great harvest being put up for the winter months. It was a glorious smell. A Home Sweet Home kind of a smell. Not to brag or anything but one year I did up 52 quarts of Dill Pickles and yes . . . . every single pickle got eaten!
Here in the Western world putting fruit in with meat isn't something which we do very often . . . however having said that we do like our pork with applesauce and our cranberry sauce with turkey . . . but fruit in a stew, its not a really common thing. In the Middle East it is a fairly common thing . . . just think of a Tagine with apricots or dates . . . really delicious dishes.
One of the things I love most about this time of year is PLUMS! Yes the plus are ripe and for a change this year we have had a bumper crop of them. Although Todd for the life of him can't figure out what he did that was any different than any other year. Last year we had two plums, exactly. No more, no less, but at least we each got to enjoy one.
I love chicken and I love sweet potatoes and I love the two of them put together. Often when I roast poultry I will bake some sweet potatoes on the side, so it seemed a really natural thing for me to put them together into a casserole. A very delicious casserole, I hasten to add.
I was checking on here the other day and I couldn't believe that I didn't have my blueberry pie recipe on here! Not surprising really as when I first moved over here in the year 2000, blueberries were not an ingredient that was readily available. Thankfully that has changed now and we have tons of them, and at reasonable prices. In fact, Todd and I now grow our own.
I do so love the autumn when it rolls around. The air is filled with the smell of the harvest . . . blackberries, apples, pears. When we lived down south our cottage was surrounded by orchards and so the air was also filled with the sounds of the laughter and conversation of the apple pickers as they went about their work. It's one of my favourite times of year. And this is one of my favourite salads that I love to make at this time of year. I call it Apple Harvest Salad and it is chock full of apples, celery, lettuce, cheese, toasted walnuts, and a punchy honey mustard dressing!
The fiddliest bits are grating the cheese and peeling the potatoes.
There's nothing too out of the ordinary here . . . bacon, cabbage, onions . . . Gruyere and Cheddar cheeses . . . dried herbs, and some chicken stock and that's basically it!
The end result is a simple, yet hearty soup that is deeply satisfying and quite filling, and very,very delicious! My husband likes his with buttered bread . . . myself . . . I'm a cracker girl. ☺
*Cabbage Soup with Cheese*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe
My goodness but this is tasty. Just perfect for these cooler autumn nights when one has been out and about in the chill. Makes a sturdy lunch, and a delicious light supper, especially when accompanied with some crusty bread or homemade scones!
8 ounces streaky bacon chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
1/2 head of cabbage, coarsely chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 1/2 pints chicken stock
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp dried chervil
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
1/4 tsp dried chives
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 ounces emmenthaler cheese, grated
4 ounces strong cheddar cheese, grated
6 ounces double cream
1/2 tsp dried dill tops
a few dashes of tabasco sauce
Heat a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring, until partially crisp. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and set aside.
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