Each fall we head out into the orchard, pick pounds and pounds of apples, and then wonder what to do with them once we get home. If you’d like to try something a bit different than your standard (but super) apple pie, a skillet apple pandowdy is a fun way to get old-fashioned apple flavor.
Skillet Apple Pandowdy Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
In another NewEngland.com post, I explained the difference between the many Funny Names for Old-Fashioned Fruit Desserts — pandowdy being just one of them. In it, I explained that pandowdies start off looking like a pie (bottom crust optional), but the real fun occurs towards the end of baking, when the cook “dowdys” the crust by slashing it and lightly pressing it down so that the bubbling fruit cooks up around the flaky layers. The effect may be decidedly dowdy, but the taste will be divine.
The perfect slice of sweet apple pandowdy. Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
In this version (adapted from the award-winning The Apple Lover’s Cookbook by Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso), rather than cutting the crust with a knife during the last bit of baking, I did it upfront by cutting the dough into strips, then squares, with a pizza cutter. I layered the squares on top of the apples with plenty of gaps in between to let the juice bubble up and do its job. I also decided to double the dough recipe so I could add a bottom crust.
Apple Pandowdy Photo Credit : Aimee Seavey
Amy sheds a little more light on the origins of the recipe by reminding us that early pastry recipes called for little more than flour and water, so they lacked the rich and buttery crusts we expect today. It wasn’t uncommon for early baked crusts to require a lot of dunking to be palatable, so a pandowdy, which bathes the bland crust in sweet fruit juices while it’s still in the oven, was a tasty way to banish the lack of flavor upfront.
To be honest, I probably should have done a better job of pressing down on my crust (it looks like it could have used some more liquid on there), but it still tasted terrific, and the skillet gives the dessert such a homey and traditional appearance.
Are you a fan of apple pandowdy?
This post was first published in 2014 and has been updated.
Aimee Tucker is Yankee’s senior digital editor. A lifelong New Englander and Yankee contributor since 2010, Aimee has written columns devoted to history, foliage, retro food, and architecture, and regularly shares her experiences in New England travel, home, and gardening. Her most memorable Yankee experiences to date include meeting Stephen King, singing along to a James Taylor Fourth of July concert at Tanglewood, and taking to the skies in the Hood blimp for an open-air tour of the Massachusetts coastline.
