Buckles, Cobblers, Grunts & Slumps

Susan Belsinger

Buckles, Cobblers, Grunts and Slumps might sound like dance moves from the ’70s, but they’ll make your taste buds want to twist and shout. These scrumptious desserts have qualities in common – fruit, flour, sugar and spices – but variations on a theme mean a flavorful variety for you. Just use your imagination and whatever is in season, stir well and say “Mmmmm,” and “You’re welcome.”

What will make all the difference is the addition of fresh herbs that harmonize with whatever fruit you’re using.

Generally, the lemon herbs are wonderful additions to most fruit desserts. Fresh bay leaves, red-flowered beebalm, orange mint and citrus-scented geraniums also work well. Hints of mint, anise hyssop and basil often will complement and highlight fruit flavors. To avoid overwhelming the senses, use less of a robust-flavored herb like rosemary or sage, or a highly perfumed herb such as lavender and scented geranium.

Juicy fruits are great for flummeries and biscuit doughs; berries traditionally are used in buckles, grunts and slumps. Apples often appear in brown betties and pandowdies, but pears, Asian pears and even quinces are equally delicious. The stone fruits of summer – peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots – are elegant in a crisp, or more rustic in a crumble or cobbler. For best flavor, serve these fruited desserts warm or at room temperature. Now, try to resist vanilla ice cream or chilled whipped cream to top them off.

What’s the difference?

Betty – A baked pudding or casserole made of alternate layers of fruit, tossed with sugar and spices, and breadcrumbs. Apple Brown Betty made with brown sugar is the best-known betty.

Buckle – A buckle is like a single layer cake; Blueberry Buckle is the best known of the old recipes, but any berry can be used. Buckles most often have crumb toppings.

Crumble – This British sweet is made by covering raw fruit with a crumbly pastry mixture before baking. The crumble often contains oats and nuts, in addition to flour, butter and sugar.

Cobbler – A deep-dish fruit dessert covered with a rich biscuit dough. The fruit is generally thickened with a little cornstarch or flour. Dough is cut into biscuits and the rounds are laid on top.

Crisp – Prepared in a shallow dish with fruit on the bottom and the crisp on top, a crisp can be made with any fruit and usually has a bit of flour or cornstarch added for thickening.

Flummery – A pudding made from stewed fruit, generally thickened with cornstarch, most often berries, sometimes with milk or cream.

Grunt – An old-fashioned dessert from New England, usually made with berries or apples. The fruit is stewed with sugar and a soft biscuit dough is dropped.

Slump — See Grunt.

Apple Brown Betty with Rosemary

Crisp fall apples taste good with a sprinkling of robust herbs like rosemary or sage. This dessert is generally layered with breadcrumbs on the top, which get crispy, but it is easy and equally tasty to just toss everything together.

Serves 8 to 10

5 large apples, peeled if desired, cored and sliced thin
Juice of 1 lemon
5 slices whole wheat bread, torn or cubed into bite-sized pieces
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
About 10 sprigs rosemary, 11/2- to 2-inches long
1/2 cup apple cider or juice

Heat oven to 375°F. Generously butter a 2-quart ovenproof dish; set aside.
In bowl, toss apple slices with lemon juice. Add breadcrumbs, sugar, cinnamon and butter, and toss well.

Place rosemary sprigs in prepared dish and cover with apple mixture. Pour apple cider over all.

Bake 30 to 40 minutes, or until top crumbs are browned and fruit is tender. Cool on baking rack for at least 15 minutes before serving hot, or serve warm, or at room temperature.

Blueberry Buckle with Lemon Verbena and Cinnamon Basil

This recipe was inspired by one of the finest bakers that I know of, who is also a friend and colleague, Nancy Baggett. Her latest book, The All-American Dessert Book, published by Houghton Mifflin in 2005, is a must-have.

Serves 8 to 10

Buckle Batter:
11/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups blueberries, washed and drained
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 cup packed lemon verbena leaves or 1/4 cup packed lemon basil leaves
1/4 cup packed cinnamon lemon basil leaves
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 extra-large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons buttermilk

Heat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9- or 10-inch deep-dish pie plate; set aside. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl and set aside. In another bowl, toss 1 tablespoon of dry ingredients with blueberries.

Combine sugar, lemon herb and cinnamon basil in processor and pulse until smooth; the sugar will turn green with tiny flecks of herb.

Add butter to processor and process until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and process until smooth. Add dry ingredients and pulse to blend, then add buttermilk and blend until just mixed. Stir in berries and transfer batter to prepared dish, smoothing so it is level in pan.

Topping:
1/4 cup unbleached flour
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into bits
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon mace
Pinch salt

Put flour in small bowl and cut butter into it. Add sugar, mace and salt, and blend well. Sprinkle topping over berry mixture in prepared dish and bake for about 50 minutes or until top is golden brown and tester comes out clean. Cool in pan and cut into wedges. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with Sweet Woodruff

Sweet woodruff doesn’t have much of an aroma when picked fresh, but when dried, infused or cooked, it imparts a homey flavor, rather like adding a taste of vanilla and a scent of fresh mown hay. If you don’t have sweet woodruff, lemon balm and orange mint are both tasty alternatives. The vanilla-scented sugar adds a lovely dimension – if you don’t have any, just use regular sugar. Serve this dessert warm, or at room temperature, just as it is, or with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream, garnished with a sprig of sweet woodruff.

Serves 8

12 sprigs sweet woodruff, each about 3 inches long
4 cups rhubarb, scrubbed and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
About 1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 cups fresh strawberries, halved, if large, slice them
12/3 cups unbleached flour
21/2 tablespoons vanilla sugar or plain sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
21/2 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup milk
Vanilla sugar for sprinkling

Heat oven to 400º F. Butter a 21/2-quart baking dish; set aside.

Holding woodruff sprigs, gently slide thumb and forefinger together down stem to remove whorls of leaves; discard stems.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, place rhubarb, 1 cup sugar, cornstarch and sweet woodruff leaves; bring to simmer. Reduce heat, stir and cook for about 4 minutes.

Add berries, stir and cook for 2 or 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Let mixture cool a bit and remove the woodruff sprigs.

Transfer fruit mixture to prepared dish.

In a bowl, combine flour, 21/2 tablespoons sugar, salt and baking powder. Cut butter into flour mixture until in pea-sized lumps.

Add milk and mix with fork until just blended.

Drop dough in large spoonfuls over fruit in prepared dish. Sprinkle dough lightly with vanilla sugar. Bake cobbler 35 to 40 minutes, or until fruit is bubbling and dough is turning golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Peach and Blueberry Crisp with Anise Hyssop

Peaches and blueberries are a winning combination, and the addition of anise hyssop in this recipe gives it a different slant. If you are not a fan of the anise/licorice flavor, any of the lemon herbs work wonderfully, as does Rober’s Lemon Rose or the citrus-scented geraniums. If using a scented geranium, use about half the amount of herb called for.

Serves 8 to 10

Fruit:
6 medium peaches, peeled and sliced, tossed with 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 cups blueberries, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup unbleached flour
3 to 4 tablespoons minced anise hyssop

Heat oven to 375°F. Butter a 2-quart ovenproof dish; set aside.
In large bowl, toss all ingredients together. Transfer fruit mixture to prepared dish.

Crisp topping:
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 large pinches salt
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

In large bowl, combine dry ingredients and work in butter, or combine all ingredients in processor and pulse until just blended. Sprinkle topping evenly over fruit in prepared dish.

Bake about 50 minutes, or until fruit is bubbling and top is crisp and golden brown. Cool on baking rack for at least 15 minutes before serving hot, or serve warm, or at room temperature. Garnish each serving with an anise hyssop leaf or bloom.

Pear and Cranberry Crumble with Orange-Scented Geranium Leaves

Pears and cranberries are a favorite fall combination; both are delicious when complemented by the flavor of orange. If you don’t have orange geranium leaves, orange mint would work as well. Rosemary or sage leaves also could be used – 8 to 10 sprigs of rosemary about 11/2 inches long (remove them before serving), or 12 to 15 whole sage leaves.

Serves 8 to 10

Fruit:
4 firm, ripe pears, peeled if desired, cored and sliced into quarters lengthwise
1/2 lemon
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached flour
Zest of 1 orange
15 to 20 orange-scented geranium leaves
Freshly grated nutmeg

Heat oven to 375°F. Generously butter 2-quart ovenproof dish; set aside.

Take quartered pears and cut them crosswise into slices and place in bowl. Squeeze lemon over pears, and toss with cranberries. Add brown sugar, flour, zest and whole leaves; toss well. Transfer fruit mixture to prepared dish and dust top with freshly grated nutmeg.

Crumble Topping:
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into bits
1 cup brown sugar, not packed
1 cup rolled oats
2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

In large bowl, combine flours and salt; toss to blend. Cut butter into flour with pastry cutter or two knives. Add brown sugar, oats and walnuts; toss well. Scatter crumble topping over fruit mixture in prepared dish. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until crumble is golden brown and pears are tender when stuck with knife. Cool on baking rack for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. Remove scented geranium leaves if desired. I generally leave them in the dessert. But do not eat them; just warn your guests if you do leave them in.

Sour Cherry Grunt with Lemon Balm

This sour cherry grunt is tart and sweet and makes my mouth water just thinking about it. The yellow cornmeal added to the biscuit dough gives a nice bit of texture and sweetness contrasted by the buttermilk.

Serves 8

Fruit:
About 6 cups pitted sour cherries
2/3 cup sour cherry juice (or substitute with water)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
6 sprigs lemon balm, 4 to 5 inches long

In a 10- to 12-inch non-reactive sauté pan with tight-fitting lid, combine cherries and juice. Toss brown and white sugars together with cornstarch, then add mixture to cherries and blend well. Add the balm sprigs and place the pan over medium-high heat. Bring cherries to a simmer and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, assemble grunt dough.

Grunt:
11/2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
21/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Scant teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
11/4 cups buttermilk
3 to 4 tablespoons chopped lemon balm leaves

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. Toss well to blend. Cut butter into dry ingredients with pastry cutter or two knives. Add buttermilk and balm leaves; stir to blend.

Drop large spoonfuls of grunt dough over simmering cherries. Cover pan and cook 20 to 25 minutes. The grunt dough will not brown much; it is being cooked like dumplings on top of stew. Dough is done when set, or when stuck with knife, dough is no longer sticky and knife comes out clean. Uncover and let cool for 15 minutes before serving. Best served hot or warm, but good at room temperature.

Plum Flummery

I chose Pelargonium, commonly known as ‘Rober’s Lemon Rose’ scented geranium, for this sweet, light dessert. Named the 2006 Herb of the Year by the International Herb Association, scented geraniums make for a lovely flavor combination. Lemon herbs, orange mint or Monarda would all combine well with plums. Flummeries sometimes have spirits in them; replace 3 tablespoons of water with the same amount of a sweet sherry or Madeira. Serve plain, over vanilla ice cream, cake or waffles, or for breakfast with vanilla yogurt.

Serves 6

6 firm, ripe plums, sliced and pitted
6 tablespoons scented geranium sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
6 scented geranium leaves
About 1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons lemon juice

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine plums, sugar, cornstarch and herb leaves; toss well. Add water and lemon juice. Place over medium heat. Bring plums to simmer, stir, reduce heat to medium low, and cover. Cook about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add another tablespoon or two of water if liquid cooks down too quickly. Test with tip of knife for doneness. Cook for a few minutes more for softer fruit. Serve warm or at room temperature. Remove cooked leaves, if desired.

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