This Vintage Recipe Is A Fall Dessert You'll Want To Make Every Year

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As the autumn season rolls in, so too does cooler weather and invitations for gathering around fall feasts with friends. It's also a time for reflection and nostalgia through sharing food and fun. There are plenty of vintage fall recipes we should all be making for the sake of paying tribute to old favorite dishes, including entrees, appetizers, and desserts. For a fall sweet treat that's filled with warmth and comfort, there's nothing like an apple brown betty.

With so many options between buckles, crumbles, crisps, cobblers, grunts, slumps, and more, a brown betty stands apart from these vintage go-tos for its unique casserole-like composition. Take, for example, the difference between a buckle and betty. Whereas a typical brown betty is made by layering fruit and buttered breadcrumbs in a dish and baking until golden brown, a buckle uses more of a coffee cake-style batter mixed with fruit.

Apples are certainly a favorite fruit of the season, particularly when mixed with warming spices like cinnamon and sweeteners such as brown sugar. This buttery baked good will surely bring the cozy vibes to your table and plenty of vintage inspiration in every bite. There's a lot you can do with fresh fruit and bread to make a dessert that will delight, even more so with a generous scoop of ice cream.

Tasting Table recipe developer, Jessica Morone, has put together a classic apple brown betty à la mode recipe that will be the darling of your next fall table. It effectively combines the vintage ingenuity of reusing stale slices of bread and a few tart Granny Smith apples to create a mouthwatering dish. With a minimal list of pantry staple ingredients and little effort, this dessert comes together quickly and easily for a satisfying sweet.

Mix chopped apples and lemon juice with cubes of stale bread in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Next, sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the apples and bread, and then add a second layer of these ingredients on top. Gently place cubes of butter on top of this and then drizzle water over the ingredients. Let the dish bake covered first and then allow it more time uncovered so the top can get golden brown. This is best served warm with a scoop of ice cream on the side for a lovely interplay of taste, texture, and temperature.

You can also enhance this base recipe by making some tweaks and additions to suit your taste preferences. For example, add a portion of chopped candied pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup for extra festive fall flavors. Amp up the vintage factor by using stale slices of WonderBread Classic White Sandwich Bread. Or, change up your apples from Granny Smith to a sweeter variety like Honeycrisp for even more robust flavor.