Apple Custard Crisp | Everyday Dorie

You can find an apple crisp and a custard tourte (apple kuchen) on this blog. Both are delicious and the crisp is much easier to put together when you’re pressed for time. Here, the apple custard crisp is somewhat a cross between the two. In the crowded space of apple desserts, there’s something special and satisfying about this recipe from Everyday Dorie (page 276).

Dorie gives us two ways to make the streusel: the classic and one with oatmeal topping. I can’t quite decide which one to make. It’s a toss-up.

Finally, I make the classic streusel using all-purpose flour (3/4C), granulated sugar (3T), brown sugar (1T), ground cinnamon, salt, butter (5 1/2T) and vanilla extract. Meanwhile, I like the oatmeal version too, which sounds earthy and substantial. In that case, you use one cup of flour, one cup of oatmeal, one stick of butter, plus sugar and the optional spices.

Usually I make the streusel by hand. Squeeze and rub the ingredients together until they form moist clumps. Somehow Dorie’s comment gets my attention. She alerts us that reaching the stage of moist clumpy crumbs in the electric mixer takes longer than we think. It might take as long as 5 to 10 minutes of mixing on medium-low speed. That’s news to me.

Well, I know Dorie’s advice is always spot on. So I let the mixer run and the ingredients blend beyond the grainy stage until they become moistened crumbs and curds.

Once again, Dorie is right. (I appreciate her voice, not only in the book, but in my head as well.) The proof is in the “pudding.” After baking for 50 to 60 minutes in my favorite cast-iron pan at 375°F, the streusels impart a golden brown crispy crust on top. The apple custard crisp is crispy and luscious; the best I’ve made a crisp. (How many times can you repeat the word crisp or crispy? Perhaps pebbly or crumbly with great texture is a better description; you get the drift.) At the same time, the custard — a mixture of heavy cream, eggs, sugar and spices, and Calvados elevates the apples into morsels of flavorful and divine silky bites. All the juicy liquids get absorbed in the apples. Leftovers, not a chance!