What’s the Difference Between a Cobbler, Crisp, Crumble, Buckle, Betty, Pandowdy? (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between a pandowdy and a cobbler? ›

Pandowdy: A pandowdy is a deep-dish baked fruit dessert with a flaky pie or biscuit topping. The main difference between a pandowdy and a cobbler is that the topping is rolled out to the shape of the baking dish, placed on top of the fruit mixture and partially baked.

Though crumbles, crisps, and cobblers are more akin to pie, a buckle is a lot like cake. In fact, they look nearly identical to fruit-filled coffee cakes. As the batter rises in the oven, the weight of the fruit causes it to “buckle.”

Betty. Whereas crisps and cobblers are made up of a layer of fruit with either a streusel or pastry topping, with apple betty and its variations, we start constructing desserts made of alternating layers of fruit and pastry—or in this case crumbs.

Exterior: Cobblers are denser due to the biscuit dough topping and base, while crisps use oats and a streusel topping, making them lighter.

pan·​dow·​dy pan-ˈdau̇-dē plural pandowdies. : a deep-dish spiced apple dessert sweetened with sugar, molasses, or maple syrup and covered with a rich crust.

The word "buckle" enters Middle English via Old French and the Latin buccula or "cheek-strap," as for a helmet. Some of the earliest buckles known are those used by Roman soldiers to strap their body armor together and prominently on the balteus and cingulum.

This has led some historians to believe that Betty was the name of the cook and creator of the recipe and that brown was in reference to her skin color.

Fresh Fruit Peach Cobbler - Fresh Fruit Cobbler | Cracker Barrel.

A crumble (British English) or crisp (American English) is typically a dessert with a crumbly topping consisting of flour, butter, sugar, and sometimes oats, baked over a fruit filling.

Buckle: A buckle consists of fruit and cake baked together, with a streusel topping. As it bakes the fruit and streusel topping makes the cake “buckle.” It very much resembles a coffee cake.

What is the old name for a cobbler? ›

A cobbler, also known as a shoemaker or cordwainer, repairs and restores footwear.

Apple Crumble is synonymous with Apple Crisp in the U.K. and Australia, but in Canada and the U.S., it is a slightly different dish. Like an apple crisp, an apple crumble is a baked fruit dessert with a layer of topping. But unlike the crisp, the crumble topping rarely includes oats or nuts.

A pandowdy is another deep dish stewed fruit dessert similar to a cobbler but made with a different technique. Here the biscuit dough (or pie dough) is rolled out and spread over the top of the fruit and set to bake.

A crumble is just a crisp without oats in the streusel. It may feature nuts, but the streusel topping is usually a simple combination of butter, flour, and sugar that is more clumpy than that of a crisp.

Pies have, at a minimum, a bottom crust with the fruit placed on top, while a cobbler has the fruit on the bottom and a dolloped dough on top instead. The doughs used are also different, with a pie typically using a rolled-out pastry versus the dropped biscuit topping of a cobbler.

The biggest difference between a cobbler and a pie is the placement of the dough. Pies have, at a minimum, a bottom crust with the fruit placed on top, while a cobbler has the fruit on the bottom and a dolloped dough on top instead.

A biscuit, pie, or cake-topped fruit dessert that's cooked in a covered Dutch oven or cast-iron skillet on the stove. Grunts are very similar to cobblers, but they are STEAMED instead of BAKED.

Definitions of pandowdy. noun. deep-dish apple dessert covered with a rich crust. synonyms: dowdy. type of: pastry.