Buckles, slumps, grunts, a dowdy pan and some long lost lady named Betty have somehow worked their way into the lexicon of fresh fruit desserts. I love to cook but baking is another matter. Too much of a science project for me most of the time. Not so with these old-fashioned down-home desserts. Cobble, crisp, crumble, crunch… whatever you want to call them, these uncomplicated classics are simply sweetened baked fruit with a crumbly or cake-like topping. No accuracy called for here. Simply assembling a few ingredients with fresh fruit and you have a delicious baked dessert perfect for the quintessential Sonoma evening.
These are my casual company desserts all summer long. Really just a combination of fruit and dough, the names vary in the mix of ingredients and resulting textures. A crisp is a combination of flour, sugar and butter rubbed together and scattered over the fruit. Like a crisp, a crumble is a blend of berries with a sugary, crumbled topping. A cobbler is stewed fruit covered with a thick biscuit-like crust giving it a “cobbled” effect.
No one knows for sure who Betty was but the dessert attributed to her is always made with buttered breadcrumbs. A buckle is made with a cake-like batter with the fruit folded in. It’s then topped with a heaping crumbled streusel. As it bakes, the cake “buckles” from the weight of the generous topping creating pockets of sweetness.
The oddly-named pandowdy is almost always made with spiced apples and topped with a biscuit batter that is pushed into the fruit giving it a dowdy or plain appearance. A grunt, sometimes called a slump, is fruit topped with a dumpling batter and cooked on the stove. As the fruit cooks, it bubbles and grunts - and slumps when served.
No matter the obscure name, each dish is delicious and easy to prepare. And because the recipes are so adaptable, you can readily experiment with whatever ingredients are available. Start with the freshest fruit from the roadside stand, farmers market or produce section. Exchange the called-for berries or stone fruits to your liking. You’ll most likely have the staple ingredients right in your pantry – flour and sugar in your cupboard and butter in the fridge. As you create the dish, improvise with the addition of oats and nuts or your favorite spice combination. Baking fruit intensifies its natural sweetness and softens its texture. More or less sugar will balance too tart or extra sweet fruit. Assemble the mixture in a shallow baking dish such as a cake pan or pie dish and bake until the fruit juices are bubbling and the topping is golden brown.
Whether a crisp with lots of crunch or a berry buckle with cake-like crumble, wait to serve them until cooled. I prefer to make the dessert earlier in the day so by the time I serve it, the juices have thickened nicely. And even though these treats are delicious on their own, I always include a scoop of vanilla ice cream, some whipped cream, or a dollop of tangy crème fraiche. Enjoy!
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