My classic apple dessert is apple crisp. It’s hard to find a dessert that’s easier to make than this. Cut four peeled, cored apples into thin slices; array the slices within a greased 9x9 square baking dish; cover in a crumble topping made of ½ cup (each) oats, flour, and brown sugar, with cinnamon to taste (oh, a tablespoon?) and enough butter to make coarse crumbs when blended with the other crumble ingredients (usually 1 stick). Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees, let cool, and enjoy! Doesn’t it look tasty?
Once the obligatory crisp was baked and consumed, it was time to branch into new dessert territory. I made my first apple pie this fall, and the results were promising enough that I look forward to making more. I wanted something slightly different than the standard apple pie, so I turned to Ina Garten of Barefoot Contessa for inspiration. This citrusy apple pie recipe yielded an unusual dessert that grew on me with each bite. The lemon and orange zest and juice added so much citrus that the filling resembled an apple chutney more than simple spiced apples. Fortunately, scoops of vanilla ice cream tamed the tang when needed. Apart from the citrus, the pie filling was conventional - flour, sugar, and warm, cozy spices. You can see the pie in its various stages of progress below. To start, note the heap of fruit! This was only 5 apples; though the recipe called for 8, I didn't want to deal with an even taller mountain. Then, it was difficult to secure the top crust over the mound, but we succeeded and even brushed it with the recipe's sugary egg wash for extra cripsness and sweetness. Next, the steaming finished product is removed from the oven, juices dribbling. Lastly, we have a slice of pie with ice cream at the ready.
And, I must share a postscript. I revisited this cake for 2009's Thanksgiving breakfast, but added one recipe component I had previously ignored: a brown sugar sauce for drizzling and dipping. The result was like a thin caramel, which I poured over the warm cake as soon as the cake came out of the oven. This added delicious, sweet, chewy moisture to the cake, and the caramel taste went really well with the spiced apples. The glaze recipe made a lot of extra sauce, which I saved and poured over individual slices at breakfast time. I also dipped the occasional piece of chocolate in the pseudo-caramel, which was a most welcome treat! I might make the glaze again, cool it, and roll balls of it in melted chocolate in an attempt at caramel truffles.
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