Emeril Lagasse's Apple-of-My-Eye Crisp

So, it snowed this week. I guess that means winter is finally here, so now I have to put up with the flaky white stuff, winds, and chilling temperatures for the next two-three months. It's not so bad when I get around to baking, which is what I did this weekend. My long run was on Saturday and I was anticipating cold, anger, and rage, so I decided to make a dessert to look forward to eating afterward.

I didn't want a cake, tart, or some sort of pretentious dessert that takes five hours to prepare, just something warm and comforting. After reaching that conclusion, my mind shifted to cobblers, crisps, and the like. That led me to my final destination of Emeril Lagasse's Apple-Of-My-Eye Crisp from There's A Chef In My Soup!, a cookbook I had given my brothers a very long time ago. Lil bro had often made the apple crisp and it became everyone's favorite.

What I like about this recipe is the perfect buttery, crispy topping, and the tender apples become that are infused with flavor and suspended in caramely sauce. I forgot that my brother always doubles the topping, uses more brown sugar and less granulated, and increases the apple filling by half, so I made it again yesterday. I'll include the recipe for the normal amount of apples and double the crisp, because the best part of a crisp is... the crisp. Right?

To make the topping, mix together flour, a pinch of salt, and both brown and white sugar. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse, then chill in the fridge while you prepare the apples.

The recipe calls for two types of apples, Granny Smiths and Golden Delicious, though I used Granny Smiths and a firm red apple suitable for baking. The apples are thickly sliced to keep them from breaking down during baking. The apples are then tossed with lemon juice, then the sugar-corn starch-cinnamon-ginger mixture.

It doesn't look very saucy, but as the apples cook the moisture is released, which helps create the juicy, thick, and spicy sauce.

Carefully spread the crisp topping over the apples, then bake for an hour and fifteen minutes until the apples are bubbly and the topping is a deep brown.

After it bakes, you might be tempted to dig right in. It smells delicious and looks tempting, but you'll probably burn your mouth and the filling won't have set, so let it rest for a little bit. If you don't have any, now would be the perfect time to go on a whipped cream run. You can eat it plain but the cream goes really well with this.

Next time it snows and you're looking out the window in disgust, don't bother leaving. Just head on in to the kitchen and get baking. In particular, this apple crisp.

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Apple-of-My-Eye Crisp
From There's A Chef In My Soup!

Yield - 6-8 Servings

Ingredients -

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Granny Smith apples
3 red baking apples
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions -

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x9-inch baking dish; set aside.


2. Place the flour, brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and salt in a medium bowl, whisking to combine. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Refrigerate crumb topping while preparing remaining ingredients.


3. Peel apples, slice in half, then cut out the core. Place one apple half on the cutting board and cut lengthwise in six slices. Place the slices in a large mixing bowl and toss with the lemon juice.


4. Mix the remaining granulated sugar, cornstarch, and spices together. Toss with the apples until well-coated. Pour the apples into the prepared baking dish and crumble the topping evenly over the mixture.


5. Bake until golden brown and bubbling, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Carefully remove the dis from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

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apples, desserts, Emeril Lagasse