Michigan Cottage Cook: GRANDMA'S OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CRISP OR RHUBARB OR CHERRY CRISP

Old-fashioned goodness. Enjoy!!!

GRANDMA'S OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CRISP

My Grandma K. was born in 1880 and would have been 130 years old this past August. So when I say her recipes are old, they are old. She passed away in 1960. I haven't made this recipe in years myself as I am always looking for new ways to make things. When I started putting the ingredients into the 8x8-inch square pan, I thought Grandma, how did you get all this in a little pan like this one? The topping on Grandma's crisp is like a brown sugar crunchy crust. It is packed onto the apples and is quite thick. The crisp starts out dome-shaped but as the apples cook down it all settles nicely into the pan.

Grandma always made this simple but terrific dessert with Northern Spy apples. Like so many old recipes, there are no measurements given for the sugar and spice. The amount of sugar and lemon juice depends on how sweet or tart the apples are. The amount of spice is a personal choice as is the butter. The more butter the richer tasting the apples will be, I use very little butter as the dish by current standards is rich enough. I always serve it warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream which adds to the richness. When the apples are as sweet as they are this year, they need very little sugar.

I weighed the apples and found I really had to press them down into the pan to get them to fit. My Grandma probably cut the slices so thin that there were no air spaces between the slices. She peeled an apple by starting in one place and peeled very quickly around the apple until the peel came off in one piece. I can’t do that, especially not quickly. Her hands were very dexterous and very quick even though they were stricken with arthritis. Many the times I was scolded because I didn’t shell peas, clean beans or peel fruit fast enough to suit her.

GRANDMA'S OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CRISP OR RHUBARB OR CHERRY CRISP
If you don't want so much "crisp" topping on your crisp, just cut the topping ingredients in half. I would still use the same amount of apples, rhubarb or cherries.

3 lb. peeled, cored and sliced tart apples, about 4 cups
Butter
Lemon juice and peel
Sugar
Cinnamon
TOPPING
1 c bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 c brown sugar
1/2 c butter
Cinnamon or apple pie spice, I used 1 t apple pie spice in my topping

Ingredients: Apples, lemon juice and rind, butter, brown sugar, sugar, flour, cinnamon. I add some nutmeg as I like it with apples.

My Grand-daughter turned me on to Apple Pie Spice and I decided to use it in the crisp topping instead of cinnamon.

Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Layer apples into the pan with butter, lemon juice, lemon rind, sugar and cinnamon. With a pastry blender cut 1/2 cup of butter into flour, brown sugar and cinnamon or apple pie spice mixture. Spread over apples; bake in 375° oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until bubbly on the sides. NOTE: 4 cups diced rhubarb or cherries can be use instead of apples.