With summer upon us, crisp, crumble, and cobbler season is upon us. And amen to that.
Why? Because crisps, crumbles, cobblers, and their cousins are simple and delicious. Each is essentially really good fruit with a buttery, pastry-ish topping—and way easier to make than pie. What’s not to like? And yet, what exactly distinguishes one from the other?
That said, I’ll interrupt myself here to admit that it’s not particularly important to know the difference. What’s important, according to me, is to cook delicious food for yourself and those you love. I’m hoping to inspire you to just that by explaining about crisps, crumbles, and cobblers. But if you’re already inspired, skip the rest of the post and head to the kitchen, ideally armed with my recipe for the Nectarine Almond Rosé Crumble pictured here.
And with that said, let’s dive in.
How they’re alike
Perhaps obviously, they all start with fruit. Need I remind you to use really good fruit? You just can’t make great food with mediocre ingredients.
That fruit is then tossed with sugar, usually lemon juice to balance the sweetness, and usually cornstarch or flour to thicken the fruit’s juices as the crisp, crumble, or cobbler cooks. You add the fruit mixture to a baking dish and add a topping—and it’s that topping that makes all the difference.
How they differ
A crisp is topped with a streusel-like combo of sugar, butter, flour, oats, and maybe nuts. You typically rub that mixture together with your fingers, creating a crumbly texture, and it might include flavorings like cinnamon and sometimes even other goodies, like cookie crumbles or corn flakes.
A crumble is basically a crisp without oats, though a few sources will tell you it’s the crumble that does have the oats and the crisp that doesn’t. A few will even tell you a crumble is also without nuts. Since it’s not a huge difference, I won’t quibble—though it makes sense to me that a crisp would have oats because the oats would make the topping, well, crispier.
My Nectarine Almond Rosé Crumble has no oats, but it does have, you guessed it, almonds. So perhaps technically it’s a cross between the two and I should be calling it a crimple or crusp. Either way, doesn’t it look yummy? (It so is.)
A cobbler’s topping is more like a biscuit dough that can be spread over the whole top, casually dolloped over the top, or cut into specific shapes and added to the top. Some say it gets its name from the topping’s cobblestone look once the cobbler is baked.
A betty is layers of fruit and topping, so there’s “pastry” through and through. And you sometimes make that topping with bread, breadcrumbs, or crackers in lieu of flour.
A buckle folds the fruit mixture into a cake-like batter, often with a streusel-like topping. Making the whole thing a lot like a fruity coffee cake.
A grunt, also known as a slump in some parts, has a biscuit, pie crust, or cake-like topping and you typically cook it in a Dutch oven or cast iron skillet on the stovetop.
Last but not least, have you ever heard of a sonker? Me neither, until about an hour ago when I discovered this article by the New York Times’s always-delightful Kim Severson, whereupon she visits North Carolina and attempts to define one. For a fun dive into crisps, crumbles, and cobblers in general and sonkers in particular, I highly recommend it.
To review, is all this important? Not at all. What’s important—again, according to me—is to celebrate the season and cook delicious things.
And with stone fruits and berries beginning to peak, a crisp, crumble, cobbler, or any of their cousins is a simple, more-than-satisfying way to do just that.
More Summer fruit desserts:
Basic Fruit Ice Cream
Berry Sorbet
Buttery, Sweet, Bright, Thoroughly Delicious Plum Cake
Cherry Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips
Fresh Fruit Parfaits with Raw Sugar and Whipped Crème Fraiche
Nectarine Almond Rosé Crumble
Peach Galettes
Sparkling Wine Floats with Apricot-Vanilla Sauce
Strawberry Sponge Cake
Strawberry, Meyer Lemon, and Buttermilk Ice Cream
