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Crumble

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crumble (or Crisp)
Apple crumble
CourseDessert
Place of originNorth America
Main ingredientsStewed fruit, butter, flour, sugar
Savoury: meat, vegetables, cheese
VariationsNuts, oats, coconut
  •  Wikimedia Commons logo Media: Crumble (or Crisp)

A crumble (British English) or crisp (American English) is a baked fruit dessert with a streusel like topping, made with flour, sugar and fat (normally butter). They were simple dishes until after World War II, when they started to appear with recipes containing the addition of oats, nuts or coconut.[1] With the popular fillings of apple and rhubarb for sweet dessert varieties, there are savoury fillings which contain meat, cheese or vegetables. As a dessert, crumbles and crisps are traditionally served with custard, cream, or ice cream.

Crumbles in varying forms are common in Britain, Ireland, and across the Commonwealth of Nations, with le crumble making its way into French cuisine.[2][3] While crumbles are found in the US, the more common "apple crisp" is prevalent.[4][5] The comparison between crisps and crumbles has sparked debate.

History

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Crumble and Crisp are a relatively modern dish. It is notably absent from the first edition of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (1896), which is a comprehensive collection of American recipes, while Alan Davidson in his book The Oxford Companion to Food said there were no recipes that he could find in early cook books, so thought it was a WWII food recipe, much like Cobbler history in the UK.[6]

The earliest reference for apple crisp may be in the September 1915 edition of Good Housekeeping magazine,[7] while the first apple crumble recipe may be in the Canadian Farmer's Magazine in February 1917, both featuring a simple steusel like topping of flour, sugar and butter.[8] Crisp and Crumble recipes were interchangeable, as early recipes did not include any additional ingredients,[9][10][11][12] with Union Pacific Coal Company's 1934 employer magazine recipe for Apple Crumble being exactly the same as the 1915 Crisp recipe from Good Housekeeping.[13] In the late 1930s, recipes started to appear in the US that included peanuts, peanut butter and cereal flakes in crumbles and crisps.[14][15][16] However, major publications such as The United States Regional Cook Book,[17], America Cooks. Favourite Recipes from 48 states[18] and The New American Cook Book had recipes for Crisp that were still free of any additional ingredients,[19] as was home economist text books of the time.[20]

During World War II, when rationing to households made it hard to make pastry for pie, the Ministry of Food in the UK employed home economists and chefs to come up with alternative recipes.[21] Marguerite Patten was one of these home economists, and she provided several recipes for crumble that used margarine, instead of butter which was rationed.[22][23] Food writer Philip Harben in his Cookery Encyclopedia called it an unusual dish,[24] however, the dessert has since become a "national institution" as described by British chef and food writer Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.[2]

Detail of a blackberry pear crumble

The earliest recipe book to contain oats in a Crisp was probably in the 1943 The Questors Cook Book,[25] however the US Navy were using the plain flour, sugar and butter mix in 1944,[26] while The Lily Wallace New American Cookbook of 1945 had no mention of any additional ingredients.[a][28] A later mention of adding oats was in Adelle Davis' Lets Cook it Right, where Apple Crisp comes under a variation of an Apple Betty, and says you can use whole wheat flour, wheat germ or quick-cooking rolled oats.[29] However, in 500 Recipes By Request. From Mother Anderson's Famous Dutch Kitchens from a year later, no flour or oats are used. Instead crushed up Graham Cracker were used.[30] However major cookbooks like Ann Pillsbury's and Betty Crocker's 1950 recipe contained no oats.[b][32][33] This was still the same by the end of the decade, in both Fannie Farmer Cookbook of 1959,[34] and the Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Famous eating places, but oats had made their first appearance in Betty Crocker in 1956.[35][36]

In the early 60s, The New York Times cookbook included chopped nuts in the topping recipe,[37] but Anne Seranne's The Complete Book of Desserts was still based upon the traditional streusel recipe,[38][c] but further crisp recipes started to appear that containing oats, including text books.[40][41]

Crisp or crumble

[edit]

There is debate from a lack of consensus over the comparison and contrast between crisps and crumbles, their differences, and whether they are the same dessert.

On the one hand, culinary media such as Taste of Home has written "Crumbles have a streusel topping. Crisps tend to use oats and nuts, which gives the finished dessert a crunchier texture."[42] The Kitchn claims the difference is in whether there are nuts, and that in a crisp, "The oats in the topping crisp up as it bakes, hence the name. As time has gone by, though, the lines have blurred and the names crumble and crisp are now used interchangeably."[43]

On the other hand, newspapers such as The Washington Post said "There’s very little daylight between crisps and crumbles, but for those who have tried to draw the line, the inclusion of oats and/or nuts in the topping may be what sets the former apart, though that’s not always the case."[44] Marian Burros similarly wrote for The New York Times that "Crisps and crumbles are either equally confusing or exactly the same. If there is a difference, the distinction is lost on me."[45]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Lily Wallace was a well known cookbook writer and editor of Woman’s World magazine[27]
  2. ↑ Ann Pillsbury was the publicity name of Ruth Andre Krause, the director of home economics at Pillsbury[31]
  3. ↑ Anne Seranne was the pen name of Margaret Ruth Smith, a food writer who was the former food editor at Gourmet magazine and a food columnist at the New York Post[39]

References

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  1. ↑ "Apple Crisp the 1950 Way". A Garden for the house. 14 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hugh (18 October 2008). "Simply the Best". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2010.
  3. ↑ "How France finally fell in love with Britain's humble crumble". The Guardian. 4 September 2005.
  4. ↑ Kish, Rheanna (6 July 2015). "What's the Difference Between a Cobbler and a Crisp?". Canadian Living. Archived from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  5. ↑ Grunes, Barbara J. (1991). Puddings and Pies: Traditional Desserts for a New Generation. Camden, Maine: Yankee Books. pp. 136–137. ISBN 0-89909-329-9. OCLC 1259668500.
  6. ↑ Alan Davidson (1999). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford University Press. p. 229-230. ISBN 0192115790.
  7. ↑ "Tested anx Approved Recipes". Good Housekeeping. September 1915. p. 400.
  8. ↑ "The Month's Recipes – Apple Crumble". Farmer's Magazine. Vol. X, no. 4. Toronto: MacLean Publishing Co. Ltd. February 1917. p. 53. Retrieved 2 June 2023 – via the Internet Archive.
  9. ↑ "The Question of Desser and some answers to it". The American Girl. January 1938. p. 34.
  10. ↑ Soup to Nuts. The Women's Auxiliary of the Church if the Holy Comforter. 1931. p. 101.
  11. ↑ "Menu No. 4". Good Housekeeping. June 1924. p. 200.
  12. ↑ Cook Book of The Junior Board of the Woman's Hospital Association. Cleveland Shpiing News. 1931. p. 100.
  13. ↑ "Of Interest to Women". Union Pacific Coal Company Employees' Magazine. Vol. 11, no. 1. January 1934. p. 33.
  14. ↑ "Dishes suitable for youth". The Mansfield News Journal. 9 March 1939. p. 15.
  15. ↑ "Cooks Council". Sikeston Standard. 12 September 1939.
  16. ↑ Demetria Tylor; Gertrude Lynn (1939). The Day by Day cook book. Halcyon House. p. 187.
  17. ↑ Ruth Berlozheimer (1939). The United States Regional Cook Book. Culinary Arts Institute of Chicago. p. 676.
  18. ↑ Cora Brown; Rose zbrown; Bob Brown (1940). America Cooks. Favourite Recipes from 48 states. Halcyon House. p. 868.
  19. ↑ Lily J Haxworth Wallace (1941). The New American Cook Book. American Publishers Alliance. p. 37.
  20. ↑ Florence LaGanke Harris; Ruth Adele Henderson (1942). Foods. Their Nutritive, Economic and Social Values. Little, Down & Company. p. 535.
  21. ↑ "World War 2 Ministry of Food recipe leaflets". West Sussex Recirds Office Blog. 5 September 2016.
  22. ↑ "Recipe for success". BBC. 11 October 2007.
  23. ↑ "Could we stomach a wartime meal?". BBC News. 8 October 2003.
  24. ↑ Philip Harben (1955). Philip Harben Cookery Encyclopedia. Odhams Press. p. 13.
  25. ↑ MRS. A. W. YOUNG (1943). The Questors Cookbook. Questors Society. p. 176.
  26. ↑ The Cook Book Of The United States Navy. 1944. p. 37.
  27. ↑ "Cookbook writer Lily Wallace a familiar name in early 1900s, but her summertime ties to Maine are little known". Portland Press Herald. 8 November 2017.
  28. ↑ "The Lily Wallace New American Cookbook". Books. Inc. 1945. p. 37.
  29. ↑ Adelle Davis (1947). Lets Cook it Right. Harcourt Brace & Company. p. 497.
  30. ↑ Jeanne M Hall; Belle Anderson Ebner (1948). 500 Recipes By Request. From Mother Anderson's Famous Dutch Kitchens. p. 152.
  31. ↑ "Vintage Recipes". Facebook. 28 November 2024.
  32. ↑ Ann Pillsbury Baking Cookbook. Pillsbury Mills Inc. 1950. p. 294.
  33. ↑ Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book. McGraw-Hill Book Company Inc. 1950. p. 215.
  34. ↑ The All New Fannie Farmer Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Bantam Books. 1959. p. 379.
  35. ↑ Ford Treasury of Favorite Recipes from Famous eating places. Golden Press. 1959. p. 32.
  36. ↑ "Apple Crisp". Betty Crocker. Retrieved 7 July 2026.
  37. ↑ The New York Times cookbook. 1961. p. 618.
  38. ↑ Anne Seranne. The Complete Book of Desserts. Paperback Library Inc. p. 26.
  39. ↑ "10. Anne Seranne - The Complete Book of Preserving". Vintage Kitchen.
  40. ↑ Our Favorite Desserts. Favorites From Home Economics Teachers. Favourite Recipes Press. 1967. p. 264.
  41. ↑ Yvonne Brand (1970). Home Economics 2. J M Bent & Son. p. 64.
  42. ↑ Weiss, Lisa A. Kaminski, Jacqueline (18 May 2018). "The Difference Between Cobblers, Crisps and Crumbles". Taste of Home. Retrieved 14 July 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  43. ↑ "What's the Difference Between a Cobbler, Crumble, and Crisp?". Kitchn. Archived from the original on 27 November 2025. Retrieved 14 July 2026.
  44. ↑ "Cobblers, crumbles, slumps and grunts: A guide to baked fruit desserts". The Washington Post. 30 June 2025.
  45. ↑ "A crisp or a crumble? Well, if it's good, eat it". The Roanoake Times. 9 September 1987.
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