I love apples. I have this recurring dream where I leave the stress of the restaurant world behind and start a cider house, making exquisite hard cider. I start at sunrise and I finish in the mid-afternoon and retire to the farmhouse to cook a dinner for Mary and the girls.
Apple brown betty is like a crisp made with bread crumbs. It's a wonderful dessert that is so simple and so rewarding in results. This is a good one for roping the kids into helping. Those apples arent going to peel themselves.
Zabaglione is also known in France as sabayon. It is a custard-based dessert, cooked with a dessert wine. I stabilize mine with whipped cream and serve it cold, whereas in Italy and France you often see them served warm. Kind of like an eggnog in heaven.
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter an 8 by 8-inch baking dish.
Step 2
In a large bowl, toss the apples with the granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, lemon juice, and the vanilla pod and seeds. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.
Step 3
Tear the bread up and pulse in a food processor. Spread out the bread crumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until golden. Set aside.
Step 4
While the bread crumbs are toasting, place 4 tablespoons of the butter into a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the milk solids separate from the fat and the butter begins to brown.
Step 5
In a medium bowl, mix the bread crumbs, brown sugar, and warm brown butter together. Add about one-quarter of the bread-crumb mixture to the apples. Toss to combine.
Step 6
Fill the prepared baking dish with the apple mixture. Dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
Step 7
Cover the top with the remaining bread-crumb mixture. Press down firmly all over the top so that the mixture is tightly packed in the dish.
Step 8
Bake on the middle rack of the oven until the apples are soft and the juices start to bubble, 25 to 35 minutes.
Step 9
Serve warm and with a 1/2-cup scoop of sorghum zabaglione on top of each portion.
Recipe notes
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