fuji apples | Kitchen Portfolio

I know it won’t last, but I’m wearing long pants and a long-sleeved shirt today, and declaring it fall. I’m combining two fall flavors that I love in this dessert—apples and gingerbread—but not going in the typical direction of muffins or nut bread. Why not put them together in a cobbler, where both the apples and the gingerbread shine on their own, but work even better together?

I’m using Annie Somerville’s “Gingerbread” from her Fields of Greens (1993) cookbook, with two changes. I’m using agave syrup instead of corn syrup and sour cream instead of buttermilk. I like this recipe because the focus is on the fresh ginger. There is only a small 1/4 cup of molasses, a little brown sugar, but no other spices. No cinnamon, no cloves, no nutmeg. Just lots of grated ginger—1/2 cup! With all that ginger and only a little molasses, the batter is much lighter in color than a traditional gingerbread. I did add a half teaspoon of cinnamon to the apple mixture, but that was a small amount for five apples.

Chopped apples and walnuts

Light-colored batter

Topping the apple layer

Browned and cracked gingerbread

Warm cobbler

Apple-Walnut Gingerbread Cobbler

Servings: 6-8
Time: 1hr 30 mins
Difficulty: easy
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Preheat oven to 350°; butter a 9 inch square or round baking dish with at least a 2 inch depth.

Apple Filling

5 medium-large apples, pared and cut in chunks or slices

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup white sugar

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Optional: 1 tablespoon flour, if your apples are very juicy

Gingerbread

Adapted from Annie Somerville’s “Gingerbread,” Fields of Greens (1993).

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup agave syrup

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grated fresh ginger

Pare and chop apples. Keep apples in bowl of acidulated water while making batter. Roughly chop walnuts and set aside with the rest of the filling ingredients.
Beat butter and brown sugar until fluffy in the bowl of a stand mixer.
Beat egg, molasses, and agave syrup. Add to creamed butter and brown sugar, beating well.
Beat in sour cream.
Mix dry ingredients and slowly mix into batter.
Lastly, mix in the 1/2 cup of grated ginger.
Strain apples, then mix with melted butter, nuts, cinnamon, salt, and sugar (and flour, if using).
Pour apple mixture into prepared dish.
Pour batter over apples, lightly spreading almost to edges of dish. It will spread out more as it bakes, and will be less likely to burn on the edges if you don’t spread it all the way.
Bake until the gingerbread is browned and cracked and the apples are bubbling around the edges. That took about 45 minutes in my oven. Unlike baking gingerbread in a baking pan where it touches the pan all around, the bottom of the gingerbread cooks with the apples, so it takes a little longer.

Do try some warm with whipped cream.

I saw a few leaves trying to change color the other day, so it seemed like a good time to turn those ginger gold apples into a crisp to match the feeling of fall in the air. This recipe is adapted from another favorite cookbook, Fields of Greens, “Apple-Rhubarb Crisp,” but without the rhubarb.

Somerville, Annie. “Apple-Rhubarb Crisp.” Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes from the Celebrated Greens Restaurant. New York: Bantam, 1993. 372.

Cut in butter

Finely chopped walnuts

Rough crumble

Peel and core apples

Baking

Apple layer below streusel

Yum

Apple Crisp

Servings: 4-6
Time: 1hr 15mins
Difficulty: easy
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Preheat oven to 375°; butter an 8″ or 9″ square baking dish

Prepare crisp topping/streusel:

1 cup all-purpose flour—whole wheat flour would make for an interesting taste
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar—use all brown sugar for a richer flavor
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 stick cold butter cut into small cubes
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

Into the dry ingredients, cut the butter with a fork, pastry blender, or your fingers. I used my fingers, smashing the cubes of butter between thumbs and forefingers until the whole mixture was roughly blended. You’re not looking to create a fine meal, but to have some larger pieces of butter that begin to melt immediately in the oven.

Add the walnuts and stir in. Set aside or refrigerate for another time.

Prepare the apples and assemble the crisp:

6-7 cups peeled, sliced apples of your choice—any apple that would be good in a pie works. I had 7 ginger gold apples on hand, an early-season variety of apple, and one Fuji apple.

1/8-1/4 cup white sugar

Peel and core your apples. I do have a good apple corer and a good peeler, but I usually use the cheap flexible knife in the photo to quarter the apples, core, and peel—it works very quickly. The thin, flexible blade makes it easy to cut out just the core and not waste any flesh (of the apple; you’re on your own with your fingers).

Add the apples to the baking dish. I used an 8″ square dish and it was completely filled, although the crisp will settle as it cools. Sprinkle the second amount of sugar over the apples (skip this if trying to cut down on sugar). As I note at the beginning, I buttered the baking dish, which is not in the original recipe. Additionally, you could dot the apples with butter, as you do before putting a second crust on a pie.

Cover the top with the streusel, but don’t pat it down. You’re not making a crust. I put the whole amount in the center and push it out to the sides with my fingers. It seems like a lot of topping, but that’s fine.

Bake for about 40 minutes at 375° or until brown. If using a glass dish, you will be able to see the filling bubble; it may bubble up to the top of the crisp at the sides or not. Serve warm. Whipped cream or ice cream is optional, or maybe essential in your house.