Cobblers, Crisps, Slumps and More

What does a betty, a buckle, a cobbler, a crisp, a slump and a grunt have in common? They're all members of the "clump cake" family, a broad category of desserts combining fruit with pastry, batter or crumbly streusel dough. Here are just a few explanations of some of these family members:

• Betty-Almost everyone has heard of apple brown betty. A betty is a fruit dessert made by topping fruit with browned, buttered bread crumbs.
• Buckle-This cake is made with fruit that's either sprinkled on top of the batter before baking or incorporated into the batter. During baking the fruit sinks into the cake (or "buckles") creating a tasty interior.
• Cobbler-The cobbler takes its name from the biscuit topping that's placed on top of the fruit; when baked, the topping resembles round, flat cobblestones.
• Crisp-In this dessert, fruit is topped with a loose crumb topping, consisting of flour, oatmeal, breadcrumbs or graham crackers.
• Grunt-If you've ever had a fruit pudding, you've tasted a grunt in your life. A grunt has the consistency of a thick pudding and is made by cooking fruit on top of the stove and covering it with a rolled biscuit dough. In England, steamed puddings are a traditional dessert. Early American settlers tried to duplicate this English treat, improvising on the dessert. The term grunt refers to the sound the fruit makes when it's heated. In New England, this dessert is often referred to as a "slump."