This was Devonshire Apple Dappy.
One of my new books is a British baking recipe book written by a Japanese lady who has been studying British baking culture for years and operates her own British baking class in Japan. The book generously covers many traditional British baked goods from all over the country, including beautiful pictures on each page, the short story of the history behinds each of the recipes and when/how British people usually eat. Fascinating. This Devonshire Apple Dappy was the first sweet I made from the book because I had fresh apples from local farmer's market. They were Stayman, I think. The old man who sold them to me said these apples make great pies. I assumed they were tart.
Yes, they were super tart! I LOVE it. Also, I found out Stayman is a type of apple that doesn't get mussy when it is cooked. They kept texture and shape well. Stayman, what a wonderful apple you are!
How to make Dappy was simple. The dough was easy to handle without sticking to the cutting board. Roll and cut into eight. An even number is always a peaceful number for two of us.
They sprinkle some sugar on top of each. Amazingly the total sugar amount in the recipe was very little. First the cooked apple filling contained no sugar. Actually lemon juice was added. Tart meets tart. The dough had only a couple of tablespoons of sugar. So, these sprinkles on top didn't make me feel guilty.
Baking was completed. Pretty golden rolls puffed up!
I served Dappy with custard sauce by following the recipe. It said Dappy has been made since Victorian era (1837-1901) and nowadays the long-time-loved pudding is eaten with a lot of warm custard sauce. It wasn't a bad idea, but the custard sauce didn't give Dappy a spotlight. Instead, the apple's bright tart and sweet flavor was blur and made the buttery crust taste doughy. Overall, the taste was blur. That was a little disappointing. Next day, I made warm toffee sauce with a hint of rum and covered Dappy with the sauce along with whipped cream.
Wow! This Dappy was so much better than one the day before. The rich caramel flavor of the sauce nicely married tart apple and relatively plain crust. The whipped cream soften the bitterness of the toffee and made each bite pillowy. First of all, who doesn't like whipped cream on desserts? This serving way is most likely not a standard in Devonshire, but definitely in our place.
