CEiMB - Apple Brown Betty



I've never had apple brown betty.  Never.  I've heard of it, lusted after it, but never tasted it.  Until today.   While baking, it filled my home with the delicious aroma of apples and cinnamon.  I figured even if it tasted bad, the smell was worth the effort of making it, right? 

I've always wondered about the name.  Don't you think Apple Brown Betty is strange?  Why not Apple Brown Lulu for example.  So I googled.  This is what I found.  A bit of history for you.

Betty or Brown Betty - A Betty consist of a fruit, most commonly apples, baked between layers of buttered crumbs. Betties are an English pudding dessert closely related to the French apple charlotte. Betty was a popular baked pudding made during colonial times in America.


According to The Oxford Companion To Food, by Alan Davison:
The name seems to have first appeared in print in 1864, when an article in the Yale Literary Magazine listed it (in quotation marks, implying that it was not then a fully established term) with tea, coffee, and pies as things to be given up during 'training'. That author gave brown in lower case and Betty in upper case: and, in default of evidence to the contrary, it seems best to go along with the view that Betty is here a proper name.

Simple to make.  Easy to eat.  Healthy and delicious thanks to Ellie Krieger's recipe.  I substituted white bread for the whole wheat because that was what I had on hand and I used apple butter instead of apple cider. 
You can check out Jessica's link above and find the recipe there or go to Craving Ellie's website and see what our other bakers did with their bettys.

Comments

Marthe said…
This looks soooo good Peggy! I'm making this tonight and contemplating sizing it down to 1 portion, can;t wait to try it!!!
Kayte said…
This looks great...apple butter in there, I will try that sometime as it looks really good. I used the apple cider and I loved the depth of flavor that gave the whole thing. This is definitely a winner. I didn't miss the extra butter and sugar one single bit. YUM! Love your baking dish, such a pretty color, just perfect for this dessert.
Bri said…
Thanks for the history of the brown Betty, lol! It looks fantastic; I agree with Kayte that the apple butter sounds like a great variation.
Shandy said…
I LOVE the idea of apple butter in your crisp! I have homemade applebutter and now will have to bake this again. Love your baking dish too!
Jess said…
That looks fantastic, and your pie dish is fabulous!
Anonymous said…
Using apple butter sounds like a great variation! I may have to try that. Your pie plate is beautiful :)
Tiff said…
Looks great and I love your pretty, red pie dish!
Anonymous said…
MMmmm... the picture of the apple butter on the apples looks so yummy! I had actually not heard of Apple Brown Betty before, but I'm happy to know the history behind it.

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