Dessert Definitions Every Minnesotan Should Know

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE?  YOU BETCHA!

What is the difference between Cobbler and Crumble? From Pie to Grunt? A Crisp to a Buckle? There are a lot of ways to make delicious desserts, but when they all have similar ingredients, what are the differences in these desserts?

A woman recently shared this post on Facebook. It shows the difference between some of our favorite Minnesota delights.

WHAT'S A COBBLER?

According to the post, a Cobbler is baked in a casserole dish. Cobblers have fruit on the bottom pieces of biscuit dough on top of the fruit. The reason it's called 'Cobbler' is because the dough pieces look like cobblestones on a road. Interesting!

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CRUMBLE

One of my all-time favorites. But Why? Crumble, like Cobbler, also has fruit on the bottom and is covered with a layer of a combination of sugar, flour and butter.

CRISP

Another favorite of mine. Crisp usually has fruit on the bottom and is then covered with a crispy layer of oatmeal mixed with sugar, flour, and butter. It sometimes has nuts in it as well.

PIE

We should all know what pie is, right? However, there are a lot of different kinds of pies. Basically, according to the diagram, a pie has pastry crust on the bottom, fruit in the middle, and more pastry on the top. Sometimes the pastry fully covers the pie, and sometimes it's in strips or looks like a woven basket-like lattice.

Now we are getting to a few names of desserts I've never heard of, so maybe they aren't a Minnesota thing. Regardless, you might want to add these to your recipe drawer.

GRUNT or SLUMP

A Grunt (or Slump) is sort of like a Cobbler, but you make it right on the stove in a skillet. Fruit goes on the bottom, and then you spoon in biscuit-style dough on the top. This is for those people who need a dessert right now! Yes, immediately. It's probably a desperate attempt at finding anything in your cupboards for a dessert because you're craving sweets, so you throw a can of blueberry pie filling in your skillet and then toss in some chopped-up biscuits from that can of unused biscuits in the fridge. I'd do that.

WHAT'S A BUCKLE OR A BETTY?

A Buckle is when you put cake batter on the bottom of a pan and then put fruit on top. As the dish bakes, the fruit starts settling towards the bottom and ends up suspended in the cake. A Betty I'm having a hard time picturing. A Betty is made with layers of fruit (I guess this is usually apples), then layers of buttered bread pieces or crumbs, and then baked. (That sounds more like break pudding to me. Just switch out those apples with raisins and add a little bit of cinnamon and milk.

So now that you know the difference between these desserts, are you going to run home and make one?