I love apples. I have this recurring dream where I leave the stress of the restaurant world behind and start a cider house, making exquisite hard cider. I start at sunrise and I finish in the mid-afternoon and retire to the farmhouse to cook a dinner for Mary and the girls.

　　Apple brown betty is like a crisp made with bread crumbs. It's a wonderful dessert that is so simple and so rewarding in results. This is a good one for roping the kids into helping. Those apples aren’t going to peel themselves.

　　Zabaglione is also known in France as sabayon. It is a custard-based dessert, cooked with a dessert wine. I stabilize mine with whipped cream and serve it cold, whereas in Italy and France you often see them served warm. Kind of like an eggnog in heaven.

　　

Ingredients

Serves 6

　　6 to 8 apples (Gala or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch slices

　　1/2 cup granulated sugar

　　2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

　　1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

　　Juice of 1 lemon

　　1/2 vanilla bean, seeds and pod

　　1/2 loaf bread, crust removed (any type of white bread is fine)

　　6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

　　2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

　　3 cups Sorghum Zabaglione

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter an 8 by 8-inch baking dish.

　　

Step 2

In a large bowl, toss the apples with the granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, lemon juice, and the vanilla pod and seeds. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

　　

Step 3

Tear the bread up and pulse in a food processor. Spread out the bread crumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 to 8 minutes, until golden. Set aside.

　　

Step 4

While the bread crumbs are toasting, place 4 tablespoons of the butter into a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the milk solids separate from the fat and the butter begins to brown.

　　

Step 5

In a medium bowl, mix the bread crumbs, brown sugar, and warm brown butter together. Add about one-quarter of the bread-crumb mixture to the apples. Toss to combine.

　　

Step 6

Fill the prepared baking dish with the apple mixture. Dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.

　　

Step 7

Cover the top with the remaining bread-crumb mixture. Press down firmly all over the top so that the mixture is tightly packed in the dish.

　　

Step 8

Bake on the middle rack of the oven until the apples are soft and the juices start to bubble, 25 to 35 minutes.

　　

Step 9

Serve warm and with a 1/2-cup scoop of sorghum zabaglione on top of each portion.

　　Reprinted with permission from A New Turn in the South by Hugh Acheson, © 2011 Clarkson PotterHUGH ACHESON is the chef/partner of the Athens, Georgia, restaurants Five and Ten (named best Atlanta restaurant by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and The National; the shop Gosford Wine; and his Atlanta restaurant, Empire State South. He is a five-time James Beard nominee for "Best Chef Southeast" and was named "Best New Chef" by Food & Wine. He lives in Athens with his wife and their two daughters.