Updated: Mar 4
So easy. So good. What is it? Cinnamon-Kissed Apple Crisp. Actually, I added the cinnamon-kissed part, but that's how it tastes, which is why I'm sharing the latest treat from my self-proclaimed professional test kitchen. Baker tested, writer approved.
Cast-Iron Apple Crisp
Apple Crisp and Apple Crumble are terms often used interchangeably, and yet they are different desserts, most notably with the use of oats and/or nuts in the crisp topping. Apple Cobbler is another similar dessert, and yet quite different. If one of these desserts were to show up in the kitchen at Hawk's Peak ranch, or in Clara Stowe's inn, then it would have been Apple Cobbler or even Apple Brown Betty.
And now I'm hungry.
In the 1860s or 1880s, if a yen for apple desserts hit in Februrary, they would pull out a jar of apples, carefully canned during harvest before winter's first snow coated the ground.
And even though an apple crisp recipe did not appear in a proper cookbook until the 1920s, who are any of us to say that some industrious cook somewhere didn't have their own version of it two hundred or more years ago. I'd be willing to bet that Briarwood and Crooked Creek had such talented bakers in their midst.
Ready to have fun in the kitchen? Get the recipe here, pour yourself a cup of delicious herbal tea (or beverage of choice), and induge in this tasty and easy-to-make treat.
This is really a Tart Apple Crisp from Paula Deen's Cast-Iron Favorites (2019). The recipe I found on her website is different.
What does Jane Austen have to do with Apple Crisp? Not a thing. Although, the many variations of baked apple desserts we enjoy today were adapted from recipes originating in England. It's wonderful how food alone can connect the world across the centuries.
Actually, I enjoyed this movie, and therefore I'm sharing it.
An American in Austen
If you're a fan of fun and Hallmark movies with a Jane Austen twist, then it's possible you've already watched An American in Austen. It really is more than I had expected going into it (thanks to Eliza Bennett). The cast is fun, even ridiculous at times, but fun and they did a charming job in each of their roles. Lots of laughter and an escape into Pride and Prejudice await.
I've only ever seen Eliza Bennett in Julian Fellowes's From Time to Time, and she was great in there, too!
Do you ever gaze upon a mountain peak and wonder what lies beyond? Or watch a river flow and wonder what it carries? Have you stood upon a cliff, stared out to sea, and wondered what stories it has to tell? Have you ever tried to conceive how many drops it takes to create a magnificent waterfall?
To wonder is such a magnificent thing, for it opens our minds to questions, to possibilities, and to looking beyond the tiny speck of earth we alone inhabit. The world is so much bigger than any one of us.
We're still basking under the gray skies of winter's gloom in my corner of the Rockies, but come mid-July to mid-September, if one wants to risk battling bears, one can venture into the wild and pick their own huckleberries.
Wild Huckleberry Muffins
Would Wesley and Leah have had huckleberry muffins on the trail? Unlikely given they traveled in spring and they lacked an oven on their journey. Having said that, it's quite possible huckleberry muffins awaited them at Clara's inn in Crooked Creek.
Not everyone picks their own huckleberries, myself included. For more than twenty years, I have bought a gallon of huckleberries every other season from pickers who kindly share the spoils of their foraging with locals and tourists who stop at their roadside stand.
These huckleberries are then baked into something sweet or portioned off and frozen to use throughout the year.
Served here with Winter Spice tea from Mountain Rose Herbs, this muffin is great at breakfast or as an afternoon snack.
Wild Huckleberry Muffins
The Muffins:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 Tablespoons grated lemon rind
1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen huckleberries
If using frozen, defrost in the refrigerator then drain before using
Topping:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 400 F
Sift together the first four ingredients,
Stir in the next six ingredients, just until moistened.
Fold in the huckleberries.
Mix the topping ingredients until well mixed. Clumps will be buttery.
Fill paper-lined (or sprayed and floured) muffin tins with the batter.
Sprinkle topping over each muffin.
Bake regular-sized muffins for 17-18 minutes. Bake mini muffins for 10 minutes.
Makes 12 regular muffins.
Enjoy!
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