Crisps, cobblers and betties

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‘Tis the season for apples.

Balancing crisp, tangy and sweet, apples are simply a fruit version of comfort food. We all feel good when we are chomping on an apple, don’t we? It must go back to the old “apple-a-day” bromide and school-kid gift presented to the teacher.

Martin’s apples loaded and ready to go (Photo/andrewcoppolino.com).

This humble though majestic fruit is in prime shape right now, and in Waterloo Region we are lucky to have local orchards filling the shelves with a variety of what seems to be a dozen or so different kinds, from the venerable McIntosh to the Jonagold or Idared.

By all means eat them continuously this fall – but also try baking with them. A warm apple crisp should leap to mind with a tart flavour and the crisp chew of oats, and fall seasonings such as nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon to balance out a bit of sweetness.

Apple crisp with vanilla ice cream (Photo/andrewcoppolino.com).

But the cobbler is my favourite. It puts just about any fruit to good use with its biscuit dough-like batter that adds crunch and full body along with the slight and pleasing granularity of a light sugar that is sprinkled on top while it bakes.

Finally, there’s an apple betty — what a great name. It’s a dish that originated in colonial America, having been called a crumble in the United Kingdom, and is essentially a baked “pudding” with layers of spiced, sugared fruit and buttery bread cubes or breadcrumbs often accompanied with a bit of lemon.

This fall, make it an apple a day but bake some classic desserts too.

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