Raw Apple Cobbler

Originally I wasn't sure that this recipe was going to be delicious: to be honest, it sounded a little weird, if not slightly icky. But I was intrigued by the idea of a dish that incorporate raw apples, so I decided to give it a shot. It was nice: the apples were crisp, the topping was sweet and simple. It was kind of a hit, actually. I found the recipe on the blog Spabettie.

One of the reasons I decided to make this is because I'd just come back from apple picking. The sky was that heartbreaking blue that you sometimes see in Fall, and it was brisk out without being too cold. Everything looked brighter the way it only can on an apple picking day. It was a bit late in the season, but I figured it would be okay.

I admit that I was a little disappointed with the place we decided to go to. First, we didn't get that little wagon ride into the orchard. Instead, we picked apples right behind the main building, which is also the orchard, but still not really what we expected. I mean, they had little wagons....and I wasn't the only adult to ask, "Aren't we going to go on the wagon?" The wagon ride is part of the whole experience, so I was a little disappointed about that.

Then, there weren't very many ladders, and they were far apart and heavy, so pretty hard to drag from tree to tree. A lot of really great looking apples were too high up for a short person like me to reach, or even for a tall person to reach. That was sad. *frowny face*

The apples we did pick were crisp and turned out pretty in the pictures. The orchard really had great Macintosh apples, and not really great any other variety, so we picked a bag full of those. All in all, it was a fun morning, but next time I think I'll go back to the place I went to last time. Or maybe the place we get the apple jelly I love so much. Anyway, one of those.

The idea of a raw apple cobbler might strike most people as odd, maybe even absurd. But for me, it seemed like it might be just the thing! I love apples combined with other sweet things: candy apples, caramel apples, apples with peanut butter. But I don't like cooked apples at all. I feel kind of bad about it, because I'm probably missing out on many delicious and quintessential apple desserts, like apple pie and baked apple and apple strudel. But I just don't like the texture.

I was also excited about the dried figs in the topping. I like fresh figs, but I'm a tiny bit allergic to them: they make my tongue feel like pins and needles. I think it's the seeds or something, because the same things happens to me with kiwi, which I also like. Anyway, dried figs don't give me that problem, but I know so few things to do with them that I usually skip it. So this was exciting!

I also got to use the apple syrup I got at the orchard (I replaced the 'caramel' topping from the blog recipe with it), and it was nice and simple. I think maple syrup probably would have done as well, but this was nice. It was a bit less sweet than maple, had a nice consistency, and was more subtle. The bottle says it would also go well on pancakes, which I'll have to check.

Make this dessert (or breakfast) for yourself by following the recipe on Spabettie!