Tastes of Fall – Hot Apple Crisp with Homemade Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Welcome in autumn with hot cinnamon-spiced apples under a crisp brown sugar topping served with rich butter pecan ice cream.

Colored leaves, clear blue skies and crisp evenings – some of them already laced with a hint of snow – are among the harbingers of fall we love most as the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer. This is our favorite time of year, and our favorite season to bring into the kitchen. Almost anywhere one lives in North America, freshly made pumpkin pies, squash soups, and dishes and desserts featuring the year’s bounty of pecans, apples, grapes and other crops are part of  fall traditions.

Although Point Hope has no trees and has been crispy cool for some time (the autumn crunch under our feet is  snow rather than fallen leaves), we are inspired by the calendar and the full stocks of Granny Smith apples at our Native Store as well as our own memories of picking apples and gathering nuts in the lower 48.

Hot Apple Crisp

Ingredients

• 2 Granny Smith apples, sliced fairly thin (We prefer skins intact.)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp caramel sauce
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, toss white sugar, tablespoon of flour, and cinnamon with apple slices.
3. Mix in caramel topping.
4. Pour apple mixture into a 8″ x 8″ pyrex-type baking dish.
5. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and melted butter.
6. Crumble oat mixture and sprinkle on top of apples.
7. Bake for 45 minutes.

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 egg yolks

Directions

1. In a small skillet, saute pecans in butter until lightly browned. Set aside.
2. Heat cream and milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add vanilla extract and heat until mixture almost boils, about 5 – 8 minutes.
4. Reduce heat to low.
5. Meanwhile, beat yolks and sugar until the mixture is smooth.
6. Add 4 tbsp on hot cream mixture to egg mixture and stir until combined. This will temper the eggs.
7. Slowly add warmed yolk mixture to warm cream. Stir continuously in order to not cook/curdle eggs.
8. Cook entire mixture over low heat until slightly thickened and mixture coats the back of a spoon.
9.  Cool completely. I put the mixture in the refrigerator overnight before I use it.
10. Pour into freezer bowl of ice cream machine. Turn machine on and mix until mixture thickens, about 20 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of mixing, add buttered pecans.
11. Transfer to airtight container and place in freezer until firm, about 2 hours.