Tag Archives: dessert

My Favorite Apple Crumble

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An apple crumble with a corner eaten out.

TODAY’S MUSINGS:
I bake constantly, yet rarely do my bakes make it to this blog. I bake because I’m craving cookies at 11 p.m. I bake when I’m invited to a potluck. I bake to repurpose leftovers (duck breast pot pie, anyone?). I bake to add recipes to my long-overdue and upcoming cookbook. I bake to recipe test and test and test.

This dessert wasn’t originally slotted for this blog (so forgive the janky photo). A friend gave me five pounds of homegrown apples and most of them ended up in my belly unadulterated and “as is,” but there remained two pounds of apples that were extra tart – too tart even for a Two-bit Tart. I decided to make an apple crumble, a delicious and easy-peasy recipe for using up a surplus of apples with ingredients on hand.

The day prior,  my sister had visited to help  decorate the tree and, along with her,  she brought a bottle of Shanky’s Whip® whisky for us to sample, because, truly, what goes better with handling fragile glass ornaments on teeny-tiny hooks than copious amounts of alcohol? (Only one ornament was harmed during this endeavor). Since both of us bake, we began discussing the addition of Shanky’s Whip® in various desserts potentially improved with a slug of vanilla-caramel flavored booze.

So,  here I am baking up a quick apple crumble with a bottle of Shanky’s Whip® watching me from the kitchen counter – it seemed like the ideal time to test our dessert musings. I’ve been making apple crumbles and apple crisps since jr. high school. By far, this version was the best apple crumble I’ve ever eaten. So much so that, when I went to cut a large square to bring to my friend,  I realized there wasn’t a large square left – I had demolished ⅔ of the tray!

What made this version so special? It could be the homegrown, tart, ideal-for-baking apples; It might be the Shanky’s Whip®; further taste-testing is required for a definitive determination. In the meantime, try making your own version and let me know what you think

TODAY’S RECIPE:
You’d think this is a paid promo by Shanky’s Whip® Whiskey, but it’s not. My sister bought a bottle for the holidays and, after sampling a few glasses, both of us knew the warm caramel and vanilla notes would complement most cold-weather baked goods – We weren’t wrong.

An Apple Crumble before baking with a bottle of Shanky's Whip in the back

Apple Crumble

I’ve made more than my share of apple crisps and crumbles and this version tops the charts – tart apples, crunchy crumble, and plenty of warming cinnamon and vanilla. I prefer to peel my apples, but if you don’t mind apple peels in your dessert, feel free to leave them on.


Ingredients

    Crumble Topping
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
    • Apple Filling
  • 2-2 ½ lbs. tart apples, peeled (if desired) and roughly chopped
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
  • 2 Tablespoons Shanky’s Whip Whisky® or 2 Tablespoons Brandy and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8” square baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine all-purpose flour, light brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and Kosher salt. Pour in melted butter and stir until fully combined. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, Stir together chopped apples, granulated sugar, cornstarch, Shanky’s Whip Whisky®, cinnamon, and Kosher salt. Pour Apple filling into the 8” square baking pan and crumble topping over apples.
  3. Bake for approximately 40 minutes until apple filling is bubbling and crumble topping is beginning to brown. Cool slightly and serve warm, but not hot.

Gourmet No-Bake Banana Split Cake

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A slice of banana split cake on a white plate with the entire cake in the background

PINEAPPLE CONFESSIONS:

Never have I ever dissected a whole pineapple. Me, the woman who whips up her own marshmallows, won’t buy jarred caramel sauce when homemade tastes so much better, who measures out and combines 16 ingredients over 2 days to concoct her own vermouth recipe, cannot be bothered to dismember an innocuous pineapple. In the produce section, faced with the choice of intact pineapple or flayed and filleted cylinder, I’ve always chosen the latter, gladly plonking down a few extra quid for the convenience.

During my childhood, we often enjoyed fresh pineapple in our home on Nutwood Street. I remember mom deftly slicing off crown and bottom, paring off the skin, gouging out the brown eyes, carving the pineapple carcass into equal disks, removing the core, and then ultimately chopping the remaining succulent flesh into chunks to be devoured after dinner.  My mouth would water at the sweet, tart, tropical scent wafting from the kitchen.

To assuage my longing to savor a hunk of the golden flesh, mom would hand me scraps of the core to suck and gnaw on while she worked. A poor surrogate for the fleshy real McCoy, these woody knobs with mere hints of juicy tartness managed to sate my desire until after I had cleaned my dinner plate. 

Perhaps watching mom wrestle with this bromeliad beast turned me off from the dismemberment process. It’s always seemed like too much work and  too much waste when compared to the juicy payoff. I was faced with this pineapple dilemma when purchasing ingredients for the following recipe. Convenience won out again. 

(Update: I have indeed since mastered the art of pineapple butchery.)

TODAY’S RECIPE:

With another nod to edible nostalgia, I’ve whipped up one more sweet treat from my childhood.  The actual name of this dessert is “Banana Split Cake,”  but, growing up, it was known around our house as “Happy Easter Cake,” because mom would often serve this dessert after Easter dinner, spelling out “Happy Easter” with garishly bright red maraschino cherries on the top. My favorite part of this cake was the decadent second layer, which I believed at the time to be pure butter and confectioners’ sugar. Should I be relieved to know now that it also contained cream cheese to, um, cut the richness?  Always one to gild the lily,  I’ve spiffed up mom’s recipe, substituting fresh pineapple for the original canned, freshly whipped cream for Cool Whip®, luxurious Luxardo maraschino cherries for the grocery store variety, and I toasted the raw pecans. 


Gourmet No-Bake Banana Split Cake

Close your eyes and take a bite. You’ll be reminded of a banana split when the ice cream begins to melt and the flavors meld. For a twist, my mom added a layer of tart, homemade raspberry jam between the banana and pineapple layer for an added jolt of color and flavor. I've kept it out of this version.


Ingredients

    Crust
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
  • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 15 full sheets of crackers)
  • pinch salt
    • Filling
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup (8 oz.) cream cheese
  • 2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 2 ½ cups finely chopped fresh pineapple, well drained
  • 4 ripe bananas, sliced
  • 1 ½ cups whipping cream
  • 2 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
  • 16 Luxardo maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry
  • 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted and cooled

Directions

  1. Melt ½ cup (1 stick) butter and combine with graham cracker crumbs and salt. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9×13” pan.
  2. Beat together remaining ½ cup (1 stick) butter with cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and salt 3-4 minutes until fluffy. Spread evenly over graham cracker crust. Layer with chopped pineapple then bananas.
  3. Whip whipping cream with 2 Tablespoons confectioners’ sugar. Cover bananas with whipped cream and garnish with Luxardo maraschino cherries and chopped pecan.
  4. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.