FRUIT DESSERTS

That’s the way the cobbler crumbles

Crisp or crumble? Summer’s ripe peaches, apples and berries taste great in these cooked dishes.

McClatch Newspapers

The season’s ripe and luscious fruits have cooks everywhere asking themselves those all-too-familiar culinary queries:

What’s the difference between a slump and a grunt? Is a crisp the same as a crumble? How can you tell a cobbler from a betty?

By any name, these classic American fruit desserts are sure to please. They’re great at any time of year, but are especially good now when peaches, berries, and other fruits are at their ripest.

So what is the difference?

That depends, in part, on whom you ask and where you live.

A grunt in New England is a slump in the other parts of the country. A crisp in America is a crumble in England.

These desserts, while decidedly American fare, trace their roots to savory meat pies or potpies that were popular in Europe. Fruit became a sweet substitute for savory fillings.

In the “Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink,” editor Andrew F. Smith states that the fruit dishes became a staple of American “middle-class, working-class and rural life.”

Because they didn’t require the time or skill of an actual pie, these rustic desserts were considered fare for family, not company.

Smith notes the 1839 book “The Kentucky Housewife,” which “dubbed the inverted peach potpie a 'cobbler,’ explaining it was 'not a fashionable pie for company,’ but 'very excellent for family use.”’

“Slumps are fruit cobblers that are not inverted, but served directly from the baking dish, while pandowdies submerge the pastry crust in the cooking fruit juices, leading to a soft crust,” the “Oxford Companion” states.

Oregon chef Cory Schreiber, who recently co-authored the book “Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More” (Ten Speed Press, $22) with Portland-area baker Julie Richardson, said the pair’s research showed that all of the dishes were very similar — stewed fruit topped with biscuits, dumplings or crumbs.

Most trace their roots to a time when extra ingredients, such as stale bread or crumbs, were put to use, not wasted. The betty in Apple Brown Betty refers to bread — cubes or crumbs — that formed the layers between fruit in the dish, Schreiber said.

Cobblers were dishes that could be cobbled together with what was on hand, he noted (although some maintain cobblers got their name from the pastry’s resemblance to cobblestones once baked). A buckle is cake-like, with fruit stirred into a batter and baked, often with a crumb topping. One man’s blueberry buckle is another’s blueberry coffee cake.

The two fruit dishes that perhaps garner the most culinary debate, however, are the slump and the grunt.

Considered by many to be interchangeable terms, both feature stewed fruit, often berries, with drop dumplings on top.

Many sources contend that a grunt is cooked on top of the stove, with dumplings dropped on top of bubbling fruit, and steamed with a lid on until done.

The “Oxford Companion” notes that grunt is an “old-fashioned New England term for a dough somewhere between a dumpling and a biscuit.”

Other sources maintain that a grunt takes its name from the sound the fruit makes bubbling underneath the dumplings.

A slump is the same dish, only made in the oven where the dumplings are baked, not steamed (similar to a cobbler, but with a dumpling topping instead of biscuit). The name refers to the way the dish will slump in the center as the baked fruit reduces.

There appears to be no culinary agreement on the terms, and Schreiber, who is based in the Pacific Northwest, considers the opposite to be true — he steams a slump and bakes a grunt.

Regardless of their name, these simple fruit desserts are economical and easy to make.

Schreiber said perfect appearance isn’t necessary for these dishes to be successful. In fact, Richardson’s techniques in the book focus on a non-machine approach, with doughs stirred together and kneaded with fingers or pastry blenders.

“They are foolproof. There is an inexactness to the desserts,” Schreiber said.

Fruit desserts are family friendly and will keep for several days in the refrigerator. Due to their fruit and biscuit make-up, the leftovers also work well for breakfast, he added.

Now that it’s clear what you are making, there’s no better time for experimenting than now, when ripe fruits are in abundance.

BLUEBERRY BUCKLE

1‚Ñ2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

11‚Ñ2 tsp. baking powder

1‚Ñ2 tsp. salt

3‚Ñ4 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1‚Ñ2 cup milk

5 cups wild or cultivated fresh blueberries

Mrs. Kostyra’s streusel topping (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a springform baking pan and dust with flour, tapping out excess. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Reduce mixer speed to low, and add egg and vanilla, beating until fully combined. Add reserved flour mixture, alternating with the milk, a little of each at a time, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Remove from mixer.

Gently fold in blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan; sprinkle streusel topping over cake. Bake until cake tester comes out batter-free, 60 to 70 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan; cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 1 10-inch round cake or 2 6-inch round cakes.

MRS. KOSTYRA’S STREUSEL TOPPING

1 cup all-purpose flour

1‚Ñ4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1‚Ñ4 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut in the butter until fine crumbs form.

Using hands, squeeze together most of the mixture to form large clumps. The topping can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Makes enough to top 1 10-inch round cake or 2 6-inch round cakes.

www.marthastewart.com

PEACH COBBLER

For the filling:

6 cups fresh sliced peaches

3‚Ñ4 cup sugar

11‚Ñ2 tbsp. cornstarch

1‚Ñ2 tsp. cinnamon

11‚Ñ4 tsp. lemon juice

For the topping:

11‚Ñ3 cups flour

11‚Ñ2 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1‚Ñ2 tsp. salt

1‚Ñ4 cup shortening

2‚Ñ3 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the skins and pits from the peaches and cut into slices.

In a saucepan large enough to hold all the peaches, combine the 3‚Ñ4 cup of sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Add the peaches and lemon juice and then stir the entire mixture until the peaches are evenly coated.

Cook the peaches over medium heat, stirring continually. Cook until the mixture boils and then continue to boil for 1 minute.

Pour the peaches into a 9-inch square or 8-by-10-inch rectangle baking dish. Keep the peaches hot by placing in the oven until the topping is ready.

Mix the topping by combining the flour, 11‚Ñ2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir thoroughly with a fork. Cut in the shortening until the mixture is in fine crumbs.

Pour in the milk and stir until all the ingredients are evenly mixed.

Add the topping to the hot peaches by dropping spoonfuls evenly over them. There should be enough topping for 8 to 10 large spoonfuls.

Place the cobbler back in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.

When the cobbler is done, serve it warm. It can be eaten on its own or served with ice cream.

Makes 10 servings.

www.recipetips.com

BLACKBERRY SLUMP

3 pints ripe blackberries

3‚Ñ4 cup sugar, divided

2 cups plus 1 tbsp. all-purpose flour, divided

Grated rind from 1 lemon

1 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. bourbon or 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. cinnamon

3‚Ñ4 tsp. salt, divided

6 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, divided

2 tsp. baking powder

1‚Ñ2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Combine berries, 1‚Ñ2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon flour; toss gently. Add lemon rind and lemon juice, bourbon, cinnamon, 1‚Ñ4 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons butter; toss gently. Spoon fruit mixture into a greased 2-quart casserole dish.

Combine remaining flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Cut in remaining butter with a pastry blender or two knives until texture resembles coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk until mixture begins to hold together. Drop dough by large spoonfuls over top of berries.

Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 45 to 50 minutes, until topping is golden brown and berries are bubbly.

Makes 6 servings.

Damon Lee Fowler, Relish Classic Dishes magazine (June 2007)

APPLE AND RAISIN CRISP

For the topping:

11‚Ñ4 cups old-fashioned oats

1 cup plus 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar

3‚Ñ4 cup all-purpose flour

1‚Ñ2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1‚Ñ4 tsp. salt

3‚Ñ4 cup (11‚Ñ2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

3‚Ñ4 cup walnuts, chopped

For the filling:

4 lbs. Pippin or Granny Smith apples, halved, peeled, cored and sliced

11‚Ñ2 cups golden or brown raisins

1‚Ñ2 cup sugar

1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

3‚Ñ4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Vanilla ice cream

For the topping, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Mix oats, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and rub with fingertips until coarse crumbs form. Mix in walnuts.

For the filling, combine apples, raisins, sugar, lemon juice, flour and cinnamon in a large bowl. Mix well.

Transfer the apple-raisin filling to prepared dish. Spread topping over. Bake until topping is golden brown and apples are tender, about 55 minutes.

Serve crisp warm with vanilla ice cream.

Makes 8 servings.

“The Bon Appetit Cookbook,” Barbara Fairchild

CARAMEL PEACH GRUNT

For the filling:

8 peaches, skins pierced and each cut into 10 to 12 slices (3 lbs. prepped)

1‚Ñ2 cup granulated sugar plus 1 cup for the caramel (10 1‚Ñ2 oz. total)

3 tbsp. cornstarch

1‚Ñ2 tsp. fine sea salt

1‚Ñ4 cup water

2 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract

For the biscuit top:

2 cups (10 oz.) all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1‚Ñ2 tsp. fine sea salt

6 tbsp. (3 oz.) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

1 cup cold buttermilk

Gently toss the peaches with 1‚Ñ2 cup of the sugar in a large bowl and let sit for 20 to 30 minutes to draw out some of the juices. Strain the juice into a separate bowl. Rub the cornstarch and salt together in a small bowl, add to the peaches, and gently toss to combine.

Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the remaining 1 cup sugar and the water in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or other ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat and stir until dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved, stop stirring and only swirl the pan as necessary to keep the mixture heated evenly. Once the sugar has turned dark amber, remove from the heat and slowly pour in the juice collected from the peaches and the butter; be careful, as the caramel is very hot and will boil up when the liquid is added. Return the pan to the heat and bring back to a boil. Once the caramel boils, stir in the peaches and the vanilla, lower the heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the peaches have cooked through.

Meanwhile, make the biscuits. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Add the butter and toss until evenly coated. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the size of small peas. Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a fork just until the dough barely holds together; it will be wet and sticky. In 12 portions, each about 1‚Ñ4 cup, drop the biscuits atop the peaches. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the biscuits are lightly golden and puffy.

Cool for 20 minutes before serving.

This grunt will not keep long; it is best served within 4 hours of being made.

Makes 10 to 12 servings.

Notes on making caramel — before you start, make sure there is no hidden debris in the sugar. It is best to scrape away the top layer and scoop from underneath. Dirty sugar can cause the caramel to crystallize.

Be sure all of your utensils are very clean. Use a spoon that will not absorb the heat or melt.

Keep the heat level consistent. Medium-high heat is best.

Watch the caramel at all times, and do not even think about stepping away from the stove, especially when the caramel starts to show some color. Never forget how hot the caramel gets.

When adding liquid to caramel, always remove the pan from the stove and then add the liquid slowly. The hot caramel will boil up when liquid is added.

Do not stir once the caramel comes to a boil; swirl the pan. If you stir, the caramel will likely crystallize.

Use a clean pastry brush dipped in cold water to wash down the sides of the pan. This helps keep the sugar from crystallizing.

“Rustic Fruit Desserts,” Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson