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Apple Betty
5 medium-sized apples 1/4 cup shortening 1 1/4 cups bread crumbs 1/4 cup hot water 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice 5 tablespoons dark corn syrup 1/2 teaspoon each salt and cinnamon Pare and cut apples in thin slices. Mix bread crumbs with melted shortening. Mix hot water, lemon juice, syrup, salt and cinnamon. Put alternate layers of apples and bread crumbs into greased baking dish, pouring liquid over each layer. Bake in moderate oven 375 degrees about 45 minutes. Serves 6.
A lean, sugar-free apple pudding from the era when corn syrup and dry bread stood in for butter and sugar. It works as written; a few details are worth pinning down.
- The crumbsThe recipe does not say which kind, but soft crumbs torn from day-old white bread suit it better than dry packaged crumbs, which drink the liquid and can turn pasty. Two or three slices, torn or pulsed, give about 1 1/4 cups loosely packed.
- ShorteningA quarter cup of vegetable shortening was the economical choice; the same measure of melted butter gives more flavour and browning, though butter's water content makes it a little less rich. Toss it through the crumbs while both are warm so every crumb is coated.
- Corn syrupDark corn syrup here supplies both sweetness and colour, and spoon for spoon it is somewhat less sweet than sugar. Five tablespoons is modest by modern taste; tart apples may want a little more, and mild ones need none.
- ApplesFive medium apples is roughly 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 lb, yielding about 5 cups sliced. Choose a variety that holds its shape, such as Granny Smith, Braeburn or Northern Spy; softer supermarket apples collapse into sauce under 45 minutes of heat.
- LayeringFinish with crumbs on top, not apples, and pour the last of the liquid over them so the surface crisps rather than dries out. A 1 1/2 to 2 quart baking dish is the right size.
- Oven and doneness375F is accurate as printed and needs no adjusting. Cover for the first 25 minutes if your apples are firm, then uncover to brown; the pudding is done when a knife meets no resistance and the juices bubble at the edges.
- ServingSix portions, served warm rather than hot so the syrup thickens slightly. Plain cream, unsweetened whipped cream or a spoon of custard suits it better than ice cream, given how restrained the sweetening is.