Due to a fortunate turn of events at our last farmer's market, I came into possession of a free 3 pound bag of Jonathan apples! I was pondering what to do with these fruity gems besides eat them as they are...apple pie, apple streudel, apple crisp... and that was it. I was going to make an apple crisp! I haven't baked in months (might even add up to a year) and it seemed like the perfect intro recipe.
After finding a decent recipe to follow, one with double crisp on top, I had to run to the store and get a couple things that I was missing. Butter, a critical ingredient. Off to work I went. Slicing, mixing, measuring and pouring.
Before putting it all together and baking this savory desert, Adam suggested adding something extra. You want to add some pepper? Ok, what kind? Going all out, he suggested Chocolate Bhutlah. I let him add the dried pepper flakes....a dash or two too many in my hindsight, but wait till you see how it turned out!
I mixed the apples again, placed them evening in our cast iron skillet. I spread the double crisp topping over the apple mix and popped it in the oven. I did run back to the store for vanilla ice cream, had a feeling we might need it to go with this desert.
Letting this dish cool was almost torture....I couldn't wait to taste it. I grabbed a spoonful from my dish and impatiently analyzed the flavor. It was classic apple crisp, spiced, sweet and the added peppers blended well! There was heat, it was Chocolate Bhutlah after all, but it wasn't scorching. the cinnamon, sugar and butter with the apples mellowed the bitterness and left a pleasant burning just before swallowing. I would have added a bit less pepper, but on the whole it was a great desert. It was gone in less than week! Half the time I didn't even eat it with ice cream. :)
Sadly, I did not take any pictures of this mythical desert I did indeed create. Due to copyright laws, I could not post pictures from other sites to give you an idea. So, next time, there will be my own, poorly lit pictures to give you an idea of the crazy stuff that goes on in our kitchen.
Cheers and Stay Spicy!!