I also had some apples left over from chutney (My mother-in laws recipe - It turned out wonderfully!) and figured there would have to be some sort of apple/beet crisp/cobbler/pie recipe of sorts out there somewhere on the internet. Wrong - while I ran into apple and beet salad recipes - there was nothing for my sweet tooth that called for both apples and beets.
I tried searching beet desserts - and came up with a few more options - but by the time I ran into Beet Mousse I decided enough was enough and I was going to make my crisp - recipe or not.
The trick to making unusual dishes is to make sure that those who you want to eat it don't know what is in it until after they have tasted it. It worked in high school when I served Chicken Liver Pate and it normally works for me as well with Alister when he asks what we're having. "Something tasty", I reply.
My vague answer didn't serve me today though - he caught me in the middle of preparation. "I like beets, but in dessert?" He did promise to try some and I even said I would add whipped cream to sweeten the deal.
The crisp turned out FANTASTIC. I borrowed the idea of cardamom from the mousse recipe and also added allspice and about a 1/4th cup of white sugar and a dash of flour - coating my 3 chopped beets and 4 chopped medium apples. I didn't have any lemon, but if I had I would have added a tablespoon or two of juice. I threw this mixture in a baking dish and made my crisp topping. Flour, brown sugar, butter, oatmeal, allspice, and chopped walnuts mixed together and sprinkled over the top.
Half an hour later - the crisp was out of the oven and ready to be topped with whipped vanilla cream.
Obviously, if I'm putting it on my blog - it was fantastic. Alister actually asked for seconds. Not only are the colors beautiful but the flavor is delicate, tart, sweet, and woody (the nuts) all at once. When you throw in the beets' added Vitamin A, C, calcium and iron this dessert is one that you can even feel good about having seconds.
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