Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is quickly approaching and I can’t remember when it has ever been so early in the year! Summer is ending and the Jewish holidays are beginning. It’s nuts! So the Kosher Connection link-up challenge this month could really only be one topic to represent the approaching holiday…APPLES! We traditionally dip sweet apples in honey (as the song goes…”dip the apple in the honey, have a happy sweet new year”) and it is probably the most common custom of Rosh Hashanah. So while my family will be dipping apple slices in delicious honey, we will also be having some fun with apples in other dishes at the table. Maybe apple bread pudding or apples stuffed in chicken. I still haven’t decided on my menu but I do know that we will definitely be eating this Apple and Red Currant Cobbler with a gingerbread cookie topping! The tart red currants are the perfect balance with the sweet apples and fall flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg and the gingerbread topping kicks it all in to high gear. I usually add lemon zest to my fruit cobblers and crumbles but the red currants are a match to the acidic nature of a lemon. This dish is a great way to start the Fall season and the Jewish holidays with these sweet and earthy flavors.
Apple and Red Currant Filling
4 green apples, peeled and coarsely chopped (around 4 cups)
1 cup red currants
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
Gingerbread Topping
recipe adapted from The Healthy Apple
1/2 cup margarine or butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (or gluten free AP flour)
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp all-spice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cloves
2 Tbsp coarse sugar, optional
I preheated the oven to 300 degrees F. and sprayed a casserole dish with cooking spray. The casserole dish shouldn’t be any bigger than 8″x8″. Round, square and oval shapes all work. I began with the gingerbread topping. In a large mixing bowl, I stirred together the butter, brown sugar, molasses and honey. I beat in the egg and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, I combined the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, all-spice, salt and cloves. I added the dry ingredients to the wet and mixed until well combined. I set the cookie dough aside.
I peeled the apples, coarsely chopped them and added them to a bowl with the red currants.
I added the brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to the apples and red currants and carefully stirred to combine. I spooned the filling in to the prepared casserole dish and dropped the cookie dough on top with an ice cream scoop. If you have extra cookie dough, you can just make cookies with it (bake at 350 degrees F for 12-14 minutes).
I sprinkled the top of the cookie dough with coarse sugar for a little added crunch.
I baked the cobbler for 30 minutes, to give the filling time to cook without burning the cookie dough, then I raised the temperature to 350 degrees F and baked for an additional 15 minutes, until the top of the cobbler was cooked through and beginning to brown.
kitchen-tested.com
Yields 6-8
Save RecipeIngredients
Instructions
