Old Fashioned Apple-Raisin Crunch a La Mode

gailanng's Note:

A Frank Davis recipe from New Orleans, Louisiana. In his own words, "Telling you about this dish doesn't do it justice--you gotta taste it for yourself!"

• Total Time: 50 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6-8

Yield: 1.0 casserole

• ¼ cup butter
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 4 tablespoons triple-sec liqueur (Triple-Sec or I've subbed Grand Marnier)
• 2⁄3; cup apple juice
• 4 large golden delicious apples , peeled, cored and sliced thick
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup raisins
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2⁄3; cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup butter , softened

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 400 degrees.
2. In a heavy 12" skillet over medium heat, melt 1/4 cup butter, watching that it doesn't burn.
3. Gradually add the 1/2 cup sugar and stir the mixture until the sugar is completely dissolved, becomes carmelize and reduced.
4. Slowly add the liqueur and the apple juice, stirring constantly until all the ingredients are smooth.
5. At this point, drop in the sliced apples and sprinkle cinnamon over the top.
6. Mix together well, making sure that the apple slices are coated with the syrup.
7. Reduce the fire to low and simmer the fruit until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Do not over cook because the dessert will be baked later.
8. While the apples are simmering, butter a 10"x12" baking dish with the 3 tablespoons butter. Evenly sprinkle the 1/2 cup raisins on the bottom.
9. In a large bowl, mix together the 1 cup flour, 2/3 cup sugar and 1/2 cup softened butter to form a crumbly topping that resembles granola. This works best if using 2 knives to "cut" the ingredients into each other.
10. Finally, pour the apple mixture into the prepared baking pan with raisins then sprinkle the pastry mixture over the top of the apples, working a little of it into the fruit.
11. Bake in preheated oven for about 20-30 minutes or until the top turns a crunchy, crispy brown.
12. Spoon generous helpings of the apples, raisin and crunchy topping into small bowls and serve piping hot, topped with slightly softened vanilla ice cream.

Reviews

[Mirj]

Aside from the fact that the kids refused to eat it because of the raisins (ewww, bugs), this was a wonderful dessert (adults loved it). I used my homemade orange liqueur and some local apples that are half yellow, half red. I actually didn't follow the directions, just played with the ingredients, eyeballing as I went along. Served this up with some homemade vanilla ice cream, perfect for a hot Saturday lunch!

[Debbie R.]

The taste on this is really great. I had a number of problems with the recipe though. It started with Step 4, which states "stir the mixture until smooth". After putting in the liquid and Triple Sec, it was pretty much straight liquid. I couldn't make "liquid" and "smooth" compute. Then Step 6 mentions a syrup. No, not a syrup. So I removed the apples and thickened it a little with cornstarch. That was a bad decision, I think. I think maybe it was supposed to be really liquidy so that you ended up with more liquid at the end. I used Granny Smith apples to provide a tart contrast. I only had to use 1 T. of butter to thickly grease the pan. I know I should have cooked the topping more, but it had a little crunch. I was worried about cooking it too long due to the filling. (At 30 minutes, it was golden brown.) But anyway, the taste is fantastic, and the dessert is a treat. ZWT5