Apple Brown Betty with Almond Whipped Cream

What is an Apple Brown Betty? It’s a dessert made with layers of spiced apples, brown sugar, and a  buttered crumb of some sort. Generally if a bread product is used it’s a Betty. If it’s an oatmeal topping, it’s a fruit crisp. The Apple Brown Betty (it can be made with other fruits too like cranberry, blueberry, raspberry, etc.) dates back to the early 1800′s and is said to have been created in the American colonies.

Ingredients

• Apple Betty
• 3 lbs tart apples (like Granny Smith, Pink Lady, or Gravenstein - about 9 medium), washed, peeled and sliced
• 10 slices good quality cinnamon-raisin bread, cubed
• ¾ c packed brown sugar
• ½ c butter, melted
• 1 tsp almond extract
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• ⅛ tsp salt
• WHIPPED CREAM
• 1 c heavy whipping cream
• 2 Tbls sugar
• 1 tsp grated lemon peel
• ½ tsp almond extract

Instructions

Place uniformly sliced apples in the bottom of an ungreased 4- or 5-qt. slow cooker.

In a large bowl, combine the rest of the Apply Betty ingredients - toss to mix. Dump the Apple Betty mixture on top of the apple slices.

Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until apples are tender.

Meanwhile, In a mixing bowl, beat the cream until it begins to thicken. Add the sugar, lemon zest, and almond extract and continue beating until soft peaks form. Refrigerate

Serve the warm apple mixture with the chilled whipped almond cream