Here's a primer on
Fruit Pan Desserts

Grunt

It’s thought that the name comes from the sound air makes as it escapes from the baking fruit as it steams. The New England dessert consists of fruit (usually berries) topped with sweet biscuit dough or dumplings. It’s either baked so the biscuits crisp or steamed in a covered skillet on top of the stove. It’s sometimes called a slump, as it tends to do this as it bakes.
 

Buckle or crumple

In the U.S. it’s a buckle, in the U.K. it’s a crumple. Either way it’s a single layer of cake batter with a layer of fruit, usually blueberries, followed by a streusel or crunchy topping. No matter how you slice it, in the end it buckles or crumbles.

Cobbler

Just like a grunt, a cobbler is a deep-dish dessert topped with a slightly sweet biscuit crust. Peaches, berries, plums, you name it – they all do well when baked with drop biscuits or dumplings.

Betty or Brown Betty

Traditionally it’s apples that get a dose of spice and are then layered with buttered breadcrumbs, but most firm fruits do well in this baked pudding. Brown Betty is the red-headed American stepchild of the French charlotte aux pommes, or apple charlotte.

Pandowdy

Named because it’s hmm…baked in a “pan” and looks “dowdy” when it comes out. Pandowdy is usually made with apples sweetened with molasses or brown sugar, then topped with crumbly biscuit dough. The crust is broken up during baking to allow the fruit juices to glisten through.

Crisps and Crumbles

The fruit is cooked on the bottom with a crunchy, crumbly crust on top. The crust can be made from shortbread or a crumb topping made from flour, nuts, breadcrumbs, cookie or graham crackers or granola.

Crunch

Similar to a crisp and a crumble, but even more crunch, with the shortbread or crumb crust layered on the bottom as well as on the top.

Baking Expert
Catherine Christiansen

Classic and Simple
Fruit Pan Desserts

“Mama!  When you bake,
Mama!  I don't want cake;
Mama!  For my sake
Go to the oven and make some ever lovin' 
Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy
Makes your eyes light up,
Your tummy say "Howdy,"
Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy
I never get enough of that wonderful stuff!”

—sung by Ella Fitzgerald ca.1946

Whatever the name, be it grunt, slump, crisp, crumble, pan dowdy, brown betty, cobbler, buckle, crunch or crumple, most of these homespun fruit delicacies are early American innovations. Pan desserts typically combine slow-cooked fruit with some kind of cake, biscuit, dumpling or topping. The names change from region to region and reflect the ingredients that were on hand at the time the recipes developed.

Far from glamorous but very close to sublime, these simple concoctions work perfectly with fruit that is now in season. Apples, rhubarb, berries and peaches all shine when combined with a little sweetness and crunch. Add a scoop of ice cream to the hot dessert and the cat’s pajamas have been achieved.

I always push to see how little sugar can be used so the rest of the flavors and textures can sing – especially with rhubarb, whose succulent sour squeak is most exquisite when only subtly mellowed by sweetness.

Below are some recipes that act as basic diving platforms: a classic buckle, a time-tested crisp and a foolproof cobbler. Fruit and spice combinations are where you get to jump in and show your own artistry. With experimentation, you may find that some fruit combinations require tweaks to the recipes’ timing or proportions, but don’t sweat it too much. These desserts deliver a lumpy, bumpy brand of perfection that’s wonderfully forgiving.

Buckle recipe

Crisp recipe

Cobbler recipe

Read more about Catherine Christiansen.