What is it? It all starts with buttered bread crumbs, which are then topped with a fruit-and-spice mixture and baked, often with a brown sugar crumb topping. While apple is probably the most popular fruit filling, it can be made with berries, peaches, or really just about any fruit that you'd like.
Choice recipe: Epicurious has an interesting take on this sweet dessert with their
Apple Betty Squares.
What's with the name? Alas, as much as I looked, I could not discover the history of its name. I did, however, learn that it's got the best cultural reference of all of the desserts, having been mentioned (if not in a flattering light) in
The Catcher in the Rye.
What is it? Per What's Cooking America, this one is "A pudding containing apples whose cores have been replaced by sugar. The apples placed in a bowl and a crust/batter is poured around it and then baked. It is also called Crow's Nest Pudding."
Choice recipe: Why not party like it's 1894 with
this recipe?What's with the name? It's the look of it: the apples are like little eggs to the crust's bird-nest. Sweet.
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Buckle
What is it? According to this article on
about.com,
Buckles are baked and are usually made in one or two ways. The first way is that bottom layer is cake-like with the berries mixed in. Then the top layer is crumb-like. The second way is where the cake layer is on the bottom of the pan, the berries are the next layer and the top is the crumble mixture.
The writeup also mentions that the most popular version of the buckle is blueberry.
Choice recipe: Rachel of Coconut & Lime has never led me astray, so why not try her
Blueberry Buckle?
What's with the name? I wasn't able to discover the true meaning, but I like to think it might have something to do with the cakelike bottom buckling under the weight of all the sweet, ripe fruit.
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Charlotte
What is it? The Charlotte seems to be similar to the Betty, but Frenchier: according to Encyclopedia Britannica,
For a fruit charlotte the mold is lined with well-buttered bread, filled with a thick puree of apples, apricots, or other fruit, topped with additional slices of bread, and baked. It is served warm, often with a sauce.
Of course, this is not to be mixed up with Cold Charlotte or Charlotte Malakoff,
which you can read about here. Choice recipe: Go to the NY Times for an
Apricot and Apple version of the Charlotte.
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Clafouti
What is it? According to
Wikipedia, it is
a custard-like baked French dessert that is typically made by baking fresh fruit (traditionally cherries) and a batter, somewhat similar to pancake batter, in a baking dish.
Of course, the article does go on to say that
When other kinds of fruit, such as plums, prunes, apples, cranberries or blackberries are used instead of cherries, the dish is called a "flognarde" (sometimes spelled "flaugnarde").
Choice Recipe: Joy of Baking always does a great job--here's their
cherry clafouti recipe. What's with the name? Originally from Limousin, the dish's name comes from Occitan clafotÃs, from the verb clafir, meaning "to fill up" (implied: "the batter with cherries"). Clafoutis apparently spread throughout France during the 19th century.
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Cobbler
What is it? This one is a dessert for biscuit lovers: a thick, biscuity crust, topped with fruit and then another biscuit layer on top--often these top bits are dropped onto the fruit so that they bake in a "cobbled" sort of way.
Choice recipe: Paula Deen's peach cobbler, which will probably make you fat.
What's with the name? The definition says it all: those top bits of biscuits form a cobbled little top on the finished dessert, from which it takes its name.
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Crisp
What is it? By most accounts, it seems that the crisp is the same dish as a crumble, separated only by language; though some say that the crumble is more likely to have oats on the topping. See Crumble, below.
Choice Recipe: Gosh,
this one--with mixed berries and almonds-- looks good.
What's with the name? "Crisp" refers to the lightly crunchy topping once it has been taken out of the oven.
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CrumbleWhat is it? According to
Cookthink, A crumble is a fruit-based dessert with a crumbly topping called a streusel that's a mixture of flour, butter and sugar -- plus optional flavorings like cinnamon, vanilla extract, lemon zest or nuts -- that is baked until crisp. The flour, butter and sugar are combined until they form crumbs; some people like to add oats or nuts to the mixture.
Choice Recipe: See above, under Crisp.
What's with the name? "Crumble" refers to the topping on so many levels: it's a crumbly streusel which is then crumbled on top to form perfect crumbles. Crumbly deliciousness.
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Fool
What is it? Per the Epicurious food dictionary, England is the home of this old-fashioned but delicious dessert made of cooked, pureed fruit that is strained, chilled and folded into whipped cream. The fruit mixture may be sweetened or not. Fool is traditionally made from gooseberries, though today any fruit may be substituted.
Choice recipe: Papaya lime fool gives an old time-y dessert a modern twist.
What's with the name? Per
Wikipedia, it is said to be derived from the French verb
fouler meaning “to crush” or “to press” (in the context of pressing grapes for wine), though there is some argument about whether this is true or not.
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Grunt
What's with the name? Though the fish of the same name is called such because of the grunting sound it makes, no information was to be easily had on the sweet treat's name. Perhaps it's so delicious that piggie-like grunting takes over before it is served? Sounds good to me.
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Pandowdy
What is it? With a pandowdy, the fruit is topped with a rolled piecrust, which is then broken up a bit and this allows the juices from the fruit to bubble through.
Choice Recipe: This rhubarb version sounds tantalizing.
What's with the name? As learned in Nancy Rommelmann's wonderful book
Everything You Pretend to Know About Food And Are Afraid Someone Will Ask, the process of breaking up the pie crust to let the fruit bubble through is called "dowdying"; bet you can guess where the rest of the name comes from.
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PavlovaWhat is it? Per What's Cooking America, The Pavlova consists a base made of a meringue crust topped with whipped cream and fresh fruits such as kiwis, strawberries, etc. It is considered a fresh fruit pie with a meringue crust.
Choice Recipe: This one looks beautiful and delicious.
What's with the name? This light dessert is named after Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova was considered the greatest ballerina of her time--and of whom it was said "She does not dance; she soars as though on wings." Oh, and now this dessert is also
immortalized on stamps!----------------------------------------------------------
Slump
What is it? Though very similar in composition to a grunt, the difference is that a slump is sometimes baked (often upside-down), though steamed variations are out there too. It is sometimes made with pie crust, sometimes biscuit dough.
Choice Recipe: How 'bout a
blackberry slump? ----------------------------------------------------------
Sonker
CakeSpy Note: I found this one on What's Cooking America and though it seems little-known, I couldn't resist including it! Here's the WCA Definition:
A sonker is a deep-dish pie or cobbler served in many flavors including strawberry, peach, sweet potato, and cherry. I’ve also read this same dish is called zonker (or sonker) in Surry County, North Carolina. It seems to be a dish unique to North Carolina. The community of Lowgap at the Edwards-Franklin House, hold an annual Sonker Festival.
Choice Recipe: Find it on
Hallmark's website, along with a more in-depth explanation of this charming dessert.
On a recent batch of emails with South African CakeSpy reader Sophie, she not only gave a tip on a shops to pick up cute cupcake pincushions (Delagoa African Arts and Crafts), but also paused to discuss what kind of sweets they like to eat there. Cupcakes, it turns out, haven't hit in the same way they have in the US (yet), but sounds like they've got plenty of other delicious sweets to keep them busy--thanks again to Sophie, who gave the 411 on the dessert scene in South Africa:
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