This week: Crumbles, crisps, cobblers, Brown Betty and buckles, recipes, Ottolenghi virtual event 4/26, cookbook previews and giveaways

This week’s Spring Baking Championship (Food Network) episode covered crumbles, crisps, cobblers, Brown Bettys, and buckles oh my! I may think I’m savvy enough to know the difference between these desserts but I’d be wrong. Thinking our members might be in the same denial about what makes a crisp a crisp or a buckle a buckle, I did some research. Spring is upon us in many areas of the world and with spring and summer comes a plethora of fresh fruits which makes this an ideal time to get our fruity desserts sorted out.

Crisp: A crisp is fruit dessert with a topping made of a combination of oats, flour, butter, and sugar. The topping completely covers the fruit mixture and is baked. (Note: sometimes the topping can contain nuts). It is also sometimes called a crumble. (Well, if I was confused before….)

Crumble: Crumbles are very similar to crisps, but the name originated in England. Both contain fresh fruit and are covered with a streusel topping that gets baked. Crumble toppings, however, usually do not contain oats, whereas crisp toppings do. Okay, got that – crumbles – no oats.

Cobbler: Cobblers are a fruit dessert baked with biscuit-style topping. It’s called a cobbler because its top crust is not smooth like a pie crust but rather bumpy. It’s usually dropped or spooned over the fruit, then baked. This one is easy to remember.

Buckle: A buckle consists of fruit and cake baked together, with a streusel topping. As it bakes the fruit and streusel topping makes the cake “buckle.” To me, a buckle sounds a bit like a clafouti minus the streusel topping.

Brown Betty: A Brown Betty (as in “Apple Brown Betty”) is similar to a crisp, but has no oats in its buttery crumb topping. And rather than having the topping solely on top of the fruit, it’s layered throughout, then baked.

The link provided in each description above directs you to recipes for that particular dessert in our EYB library. I’m still not certain if I could pass a test on the differences of these fruit desserts but I do know no matter what they are called – they are delicious! For other fruity dessert inspiration, check out my all things pie post.

A few of my favorite baking books that feature fruit desserts (including a few upcoming titles I’m looking forward to).

• Simple Fruit: Seasonal Recipes for Baking, Poaching, Sautéing, and Roasting by Laurie Pfalzer
• Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson *And woe is me, I nearly forgot about the pandowdy! A pandowdy is basically an apple pie with no bottom crust. The pastry is placed on top of the filling in pieces or dropped by spoonfuls rather than rolling out a top crust.
• Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market by Deborah Madison
• Sweeter Off the Vine: Fruit Desserts for Every Season by Yossy Arefi
• Dappled: Baking Recipes for Fruit Lovers by Nicole Rucker
• Fruit Cake: Recipes for the Curious Baker by Jason Schreiber (Oct 2020)
• The Farmer’s Daughter Bakes: Cakes, Pies, Crisps and More for Every Fruit on the Farm by Kelsey Siemens (Oct 2020)

---

This Week on our Blog

Since our last roundup, Darcie has written articles entitled: Online grocery shopping can be…interesting, Can’t find it? DIY it, Cooking burnout: have you hit the wall?, A kitchen of grandmothers, Wacky cake makes a comeback, and The best food shows to stream right now. Darcie’s weekly food news antipasto is shared every Sunday #foodnews brings up these information-packed posts).

I’ve been working on our monthly cookbook review which will be published soon. This month’s EYB Cookbook Club summary is live. I’ve also been updating the 2020 cookbook preview post with new additions and changes. Make sure you have checked for any updates regarding virtual events as I will continue to add those I find. Note: Ottolenghi’s event this Sunday! 

Penguin Random House announced that Family Meal: Recipes from Our Community will be released on May 5th and can be preordered for $5.99 to benefit restaurant workers. Another special ebook slated for the same day release is Cooking from Your Pantry: Delicious Meals in 30 Minutes or Less, with Ingredients from Jars, Cans, Bags, and Boxes by Nancy Silverton and can be preordered for $2.99. This title shares recipes from her A Twist of the Wrist cookbook. With Mother’s Day fast approaching for most of our members, please see the second part of my beautiful things that bring me joy. (Part I).

---

RECENTLY INDEXED COOKBOOKS

• Milk Street Fast & Slow: Instant Pot Cooking at the Speed You Need by Christopher Kimball
• The Hot Chicken Project: Words + Recipes | Obsession + Salvation by Aaron Turner
• Japanese Home Cooking: Simple Meals, Authentic Flavors by Sonoko Sakai
• 100 Techniques: Master a Lifetime of Cooking Skills, from Basic to Bucket List by America’s Test Kitchen Editors
• Mediterranean Instant Pot: Easy, Fast, Authentic Recipes for Eating Well by America’s Test Kitchen Editors
• Food of the Italian South: Recipes for Classic, Disappearing, and Lost Dishes by Katie Parla
• Tex-Mex: Traditions, Innovations, and Comfort Foods from Both Sides of the Border by Ford Fry and Jessica Dupuy
• Bowls: Vibrant Recipes with Endless Possibilities by America’s Test Kitchen Editors

---

---

Member Photo of the Week

Butterscotch coffee cake [butterscotch sauce] from Bake from Scratch Magazine, Jan/Feb 2020 submitted by member rchesser

Have you uploaded any of your own photos yet? Learn more! Please remember to update your profile with your Instagram name if you would like to be tagged in any photos that we share!

---

Featured Online Recipe

Spring vegetable stew from Leite’s Culinaria by Heather Thomas

---

EYBDigital Previews

Recently we uploaded our 642nd EYBDigital Preview where a selection of full sample pages is available for the following cookbooks.

Learn more about EYBDigital Previews.

Note: To learn why you cannot add all EYBDigital Preview recipes to your Bookshelf, please read this Help page.

• 3 recipes from Weeknight Keto: 75 Quick & Easy Recipes for Delicious Low-Carb Meals by Kristy Bernardo
• 6 recipes from Storecupboard Vegan by Laura Veganpower and Sébastien Kardinal Pub date 5/31/2020
• 3 recipes from Everyday BBQ: All Year Outdoor Grilling by Andreas Rummel Pub date 5/31/2020
• 3 recipes from Chinese Food Made Easy by Ross Dobson Pub date 6/2/2020

---

Cookbook Giveaways

Please note due to the pandemic, promotions are extended until publishers are back in their offices. The cookbook giveaway roundup shares all current giveaways.

• Enter our US giveaway to win one copy of Melissa Clark’s Dinner in French: My Recipes by Way of France (provided by Eat Your Books) and one 5.5 quart Dutch oven in Le Creuset’s newest color artichaut provided by the French cookware manufacturer. Expires May 28th, 2020
• Enter our US giveaway to win one of three copies of Flavors of the Southeast Asian Grill: Classic Recipes for Seafood and Meats Cooked Over Charcoal by Leela Punyaratabandhu with one grand prize winner receiving a stunning Schmidt Bros. Cutlery chef’s knife. Expires May 31st, 2020

Enter all our giveaways!

View Past Weekly Roundups