Spiced Whiskey and Apple Cobbler With Snickerdoodle Cookie Crumble
Get a taste of one of the Southern recipes from Chef Eric Cook’s new cookbook Modern Creole: A Taste of New Orleans Culture and Cuisine. Now available, the cookbook includes about 120 food and cocktail recipes with lively photos showing the award-winning chef’s meals and desserts. Cook is known for his rock ‘n’ roll style at restaurants Gris-Gris and Saint John. Recipes for Redfish Courtbouillon, Chicken Gizzard Grillades, Creole Beef Daube and desserts like Spiced Sweet Potato Beignets and the Apple Cobbler with a special topping below will inspire readers to delve into the culinary world of New Orleans and start cooking.
For the cobbler:
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground star anise
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1/3 cup whiskey
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Juice of 1 lemon
Combine the cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and star anise in a small bowl. Set aside. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the apples, whiskey, salt, sugars, cornstarch and reserved spice blend and mix well. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and cook, stirring often, until the apples have softened slightly, about 5 minutes. Transfer the apple mixture to an 8×8-inch baking pan. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the snickerdoodle cookie crumble:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1 egg
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
In a large bowl, mash together the butter and 3/4 cup of sugar. Add the egg and beat until creamy. Add the baking powder, salt and flour and stir to make a stiff dough. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Shape the dough into balls the size of a walnut. Roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Break the cookie dough balls into small pieces over the apple filling. Bake the cobbler until the top is golden, about 13 minutes. Serve warm. Serves 6
Recipe excerpt from Modern Creole: A Taste of New Orleans Culture and Cuisine by Eric Cook with Jyl Benson. Photography by Sam Hanna. Reprinted by permission of Gibbs Smith Books.
