Apple Brown Betty is a thoroughly   American dessert that belongs to a group of cobbler-style preparations that include grunts, crisps, crumbles, pandowdies, buckles, slumps, flummeries and the sonker, a dessert found in North Carolina cookery.

Apple brown Betty in all its glory. Serve it with good vanilla ice cream, preferably homemade

In many ways the Betty most resembles a kind of bread pudding or crisp. But instead of using bread cubes, crumbs are the preferred topping and thickener for the filling.

Since it’s such a prominent ingredient in the dish, make your own crumbs instead of using store bought. You can use any good-quality bread for it, but I particularly like the Scala loaf that’s made by Rosemont Market.

The Scala loaf that is made by Rosemont bakery is a great bread for crumbs, bread pudding or croutons

To make your own crumbs (day old bread is best), tear off pieces of the bread and pulse in the food processor until you have the consistency of a roughly crumbed texture.  Put the crumbs on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, stirring halfway through.  Return to the processor and process until desired consistency.  It should be fairly fine for the Betty, though having a few coarse crumbs add texture too.

What will make your Betty special (as well as any other apple dessert ) is to seek out heirloom apples, which are becoming more popular. They tend to be tart and very firm and add distinctive texture and flavor to apple desserts.  Sweetser’s Apple Barrel  in Cumberland has a limited crop of heirloom varieties as does   Apple Creek Farm; They’re actually not an orchard per se but have a few old trees that have been on the property for over 100 years.  Otherwise they specialize in terrific organic lamb, chicken and beef.

Heirloom apples from Apple Creek Farm, available upon request

Some recipes call for mixing the sliced apples with the sugar and spices and putting it into a baking dish topped by buttered crumbs.  I prefer stewing the apples for a bit, softening them up slightly and allowing them to bake more evenly.  Then a crumb topping of brown sugar, bread crumbs and melted butter becomes your crumb base, with a thin layer of it lining the baking dish before putting in the apples and topping with the final layer of crumbs.

For the filling use a variety of tart apples; golden or dark raisins and grated lemon zest are additional flavor enhancements.  For spicing, cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of cardamom are all you need, the latter being a great flavor booster in most apple desserts.