Never heard of a Brown Betty? I had over the years, but honestly had never eaten or made one. Now I know that a Brown Betty is very similar to a fruit crisp, but without an oat-based topping. Instead, you make a buttery/sugary/spicy crumb mixture, either using flour or breadcrumbs, and layer it throughout your cut fruit. This one, a combination of a few recipes I found, is an apple version, but you can also use peaches, pears, or berries. And to add to the yummy factor, I included a decadent Vanilla Nutmeg Sauce that is super simple to make and can accompany many desserts.
Apple Brown Betty
Coat the inside of an 8 X 8 glass dish with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 350°F. Peel, core, and slice apples to get
4 cups of apple slices (I used Honeycrisp)
Toss the apple slices with
juice of one lemon (or 3 tablespoons)
and set aside. Now for the crumb mixture. You can either make it in a food processor or by hand. For both, you first combine the dry ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup dark brown sugar (light is OK if you don’t have dark)
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (I grate mine fresh for better flavor)
pinch of salt
For the food processor, pulse the dry ingredients a few times in your processor bowl. If doing it by hand, combine the dry ingredients thoroughly in a bowl. You might need to use your fingers to mix in the brown sugar.
Now it’s time to add the 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter. For the processor, cut the butter into chunks and pulse in the bowl several times to cut in the butter. If you’re doing it by hand, shred your butter with a large grater, then use a pastry blender to cut it in, which could take a few minutes. No matter which method you use, in the end, the mixture should look like crumbs with no visible chunks of butter remaining.
Layer 1/2 of the apple slices in your prepared pan. Top with half the crumb mixture. Layer on the remaining apples, followed by the remaining crumb mixture. Cover with foil (helps speed up the cooking of the apples) and place in the 350°F oven. Check the apples for doneness in 30 minutes, using a fork. If the apples aren’t quite done, replace the foil for another 5 to 10 minutes. Once the apples are tender, remove the foil and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until the top is slightly crunchy. Because of the brown sugar, the top won’t necessarily get more brown, but you want it to dry out a bit and carmelize.
Serve warm, and if desired, top with a small spoonful of the following sauce:
Vanilla Nutmeg Sauce
The base of this recipe comes from an ancient Betty Crocker cookbook I was given many moons ago. I’ve added a few tweaks, but this one is super simple and rich. A little dab will do you!
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine on medium heat:
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter (one stick)
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup (to limit crystallizing later)
pinch of salt
Cook over medium heat, while stirring gently, for 5 minutes or just until it starts to simmer and the sugar is completely dissolved. Do NOT overcook and let it boil for a while, unless you want it to set up completely once it cools. Ask me how I know, ha ha. No need to get to the “soft ball” stage with this one. Just let it come together and then take it off the heat. The sauce will thicken as it cools. You can use it warm or cool, and it’s easy to warm up by briefly heating it in the microwave. This sauce could be used over ice cream, apple pie, cakes, or just on a spoon. It’s quite rich, so it won’t take much to make an impact.