Juicy apples in rum sauce covered with equally as much buttery streusel, and all drizzled with a homemade rum caramel sauce that isn’t light on the rum!
At my parent’s farm in Wisconsin, we actually have 8ish apple trees (I don’t know the exact number, bear with me) and two pear trees (two is easier to count). So, a lot of apple and pear desserts are made along with apple butter and pear jam! My mom is quite the Betty Crocker.
With the theme of my blog being homestyle, country recipes with some modern twists (read more about that here – ya know, if ya even care), this Drunken Apple Crisp recipe fits right in!
Plus, who wouldn’t love a little – or a lot – of rum in their dessert? Because I sure do. And this recipe isn’t shy on the rum; it has almost a cup! The rum caramel sauce is sooo freakin’ delicious. It would honestly be good on more desserts than just this apple crisp. My favorite way to eat this Drunken Apple Crisp is topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with a shit ton of rum caramel. Soo amazing.
To be honest though, making caramel is a little bit of a b*tch. But, I feel like my caramel recipe is as easy as it gets. The first step is to throw some granulated sugar in a saucepan and cook it until it’s fully melted. Make sure you’re stirring constantly, and when you stir, try not get too much of the sugar on the sides of the pan because it will start to crystallize. If this happens, just ignore it and keep mixing and cooking. This has actually happened to me, and the caramel still turned out bomb. Before the caramel fully melts, you’ll see crystalized chunks of sugar and think that it will never melt, but it does. It really does. Anyways, the rest of the process is much easier. As soon as the sugar is all melted, you throw in that butter, then the cream, and finally the rum. Tada – rum caramel!
Okay, so if the thought of making caramel freaks you out, I present two options.
Option #1: Take a deep breath and give it a try because I HAVE FAITH IN YOU.
Option #2: Take the easy, but still delicious, way out and buy store bought caramel and mix in some rum (more details on this in the notes of the recipe).
If you do decide to make your own caramel, and your pan has hard crystalized caramel stuck to it after you’re done, here’s a lifesaver cleaning tip for you. First and most obvious, pour your caramel from the pan into a small jar or glass container. Second, fill your pot with water and place it on the stove over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until the crystallized sugar heats up enough to break free from the sides of the pan. Simple.
I’d love to hear which option you go with and how it turned out, so comment below to let me know! Or comment below if you have any tips and tricks to share 🙂
Drunken Apple Crisp with Rum Caramel
Ingredients
Apple filling
- 10 apples peeled, cored and sliced
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup rum
Streusel topping
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¾ cup salted butter, melted
Rum caramel
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons butter sliced
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup rum
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
Apple filling
- In a large bowl, toss together sliced apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and flour. Add rum and stir to combine. Pour the apple mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Streusel topping
- In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, rolled oats, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add melted butter and stir to combine until crumbly. Evenly spread streusel topping over the apple filling.
- Bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes or until bubbly and the apples are tender.
Rum caramel
- While the apple crisp is baking, make the rum caramel. Heat the sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly just until the sugar melts into a thick brown liquid, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the butter once the sugar is completely melted; bubbling will occur. Whisk until melted and mostly combined, about 1 minute.
- Slowly add the heavy whipping cream while whisking; more bubbling will occur. Let the caramel boil for about 30-60 seconds until it rises in the pan. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in the rum and salt.
- Once the apple crisp has finished baking, drizzle half of the rum caramel over the apple crisp in the pan. Reserve the remaining rum caramel for drizzling over individual servings.
Notes
- If you're looking for an easier or quicker option, heat up 1 ¼ cups of store-bought caramel topping and mix in ¼ cup of rum.
Valerie says
This came out awesome!!! The rum is just enough and the Carmel sauce is amazing!!!!
Modern Farmhouse Eats says
Valerie, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe!