bourbon apple crisp
Apple crisp, but upgraded. The apples bake down with bourbon, cinnamon, and nutmeg, the topping turns golden and crunchy, and the thick cardamom vanilla cream sauce is the reason this doesn’t taste like “just apples and oats”.
What is the history of apple crisp?
Apple crisp (and its close cousin, the crumble) is a relatively modern dessert that became popular in the early 1900s, especially in the UK and North America as a simpler alternative to pie. Instead of making pastry you’d bake sliced apples under a ‘crisp’ topping of butter, sugar, and flour (later oats became common) which made it faster, cheaper, and more forgiving; perfect for home cooks and wartime kitchens when ingredients like butter and flour were sometimes rationed. In the US apple crisp recipes started showing up widely in community cookbooks and newspapers through the mid 20th century, cementing it as a fall staple. Warm fruit, crunchy topping, no complicated technique, and endless variations depending on what you had in the pantry.
How to make bourbon apple crisp?
Preheat oven to 350f. Pour milk and heavy cream in a small sauce pan and bring to boil. Lower the heat to low and continue to cook for about 30-45 minutes until it begins to thicken. Meanwhile butter a baking dish. Place the sliced apples in a large bowl with 1 tsp vanilla extract, bourbon, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Grate nutmeg on top and toss until everything is evenly coated, then transfer in the buttered baking dish. Make the crumble in a small bowl by mixing together the oats, flour, 1/4 tsp salt, brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, melted butter, and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. Add the crumble on top of the apples in little clumps covering the whole top. Transfer the dish in the oven and bake for 60 minutes. Finish the sauce by stirring in cardamom, 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp vanilla. Remove from heat and whisk in corn starch. Cover and refrigerate. Serve apple crisp with the spiced cream sauce!
Tips
The spiced cream sauce can be made up to 3 days before serving.