Fruit desserts are truly part of our American heritage. Fruit cobblers go far back into the history of American cooking. Many are based on a sweet, baking-powder-biscuit type of dough that's cooked on top of or under a layer of fresh fruit. It's a very English type of cooking that stems from early Colonial times. In truth, these old-fashioned, fruit-based desserts are our true American heritage.

In Colonial times, settlers were very good at improvising. When they arrived here, they looked around for ingredients to make their favorite dishes, and if they didn't find them, they used whatever was available. That's how we ended up with so many traditional American dishes with such unusual names. The names of the dishes often described how they looked or even how they sounded when they were served or cooked.

Crumble is a good example. Obviously that's what happened when it was cut open. Another example is the shoofly pie, which supposedly comes from the tradition of setting pies on the window ledge to cool. Flies would get after the pies, so the cook would fan them and say 'shoo, fly, shoo, fly.' Pandowdy probably got its name because it was kind of dowdy-looking and it was cooked in a pan.

Pandowdy is a deep-dish dessert that can be made with a variety of fruit, but is most commonly made with apples that are sweetened with molasses or brown sugar. The topping is a crumbly type of biscuit

Slumps, brambles and grunts are all old-fashioned New England desserts, usually made with berries and topped with a type of sweet dumpling mixture. They are all simple variations of cobblers.

Fool, which dates back to the 16th century, is a simple combination of fruit and cream or whipped cream. Sometimes the fruit is stewed, then folded into the whipped cream. Originally "fool" was a term of endearment, which might be how this dessert got its name. It has origins in England, where it was probably made with gooseberries. When it was made here, however, it was made with blueberries or blackberries.

Buckle or crumple is a type of cake that is made in a single layer, with berries added to the batter--usually blueberries. The batter is quite thick, and as it bakes, it forms a thin bottom layer. The topping is similar to a streusel, which gives it a buckled or crumpled appearance.

Cobbler is a deep-dish fruit dessert that is topped with a biscuit crust. Depending on the region, it might also be called a bramble, grunt or slump. It can be made with almost any type of fruit, including peaches, nectarines, plums and blackberries.

Betty was a popular baked pudding made during Colonial times. It's made by layering spiced fruit with buttered bread crumbs. All sorts of fruit can be used, but apples are the most common. You might find it in recipe books listed as "Apple Brown Betty."  

Shortcake is a classic American dessert made with a rich biscuit. It's split in two and topped with fruit and whipped cream. Strawberries are traditional, but peaches and apricots are also quite tasty.

Roly-poly is made by rolling fruit up in a type of pie pastry, wrapping it in cheesecloth and steaming it. Sailors made this dessert and often called it a duff.

Crisps and crumbles are different from cobblers in that they are made with a shortbread crust rather than a biscuit. The fruit is cooked on the bottom with the crust on top. As it bakes, the top becomes crisp and crumbly. The difference between the two is simply regional. Crisps are the homey, American versions of the British crumbles.

Crunch is similar to a crisp and a crumble, but in a crunch, there's a shortbread crust on the bottom as well as on the top.

Plate Cake: Fruit is topped with rolled biscuit dough and baked. When done, the dessert is flipped, and the biscuit topping becomes the bottom crust.

Grunt: Fruit topped with biscuit dough, covered, and baked so that biscuits steam rather than bake. Also called a slump.