Showing posts with label apple tart recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apple tart recipe. Show all posts

Monday, June 27, 2011

Clafoutis Normand (Apple and Cream Tart)


Clafoutis Normand is a delightful French dessert that blends the simplicity of baked custard with the richness of apples and cream. While purists might argue it should be called a "flaugnarde" since it doesn't feature cherries, this Normandy-inspired variation holds its own with buttery baked apples and a hint of Calvados (if you fancy). Whether you choose to make it with a flaky crust or as a crustless custard, this dessert is both elegant and comforting.

Recipe: Clafoutis Normand (Apple and Cream Tart)

Serves: 6



Ingredients:

Pâté Brisée Sucrée
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
Pinch salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 egg, lightly beaten, for glazing

Baked Apples
3 apples (preferably Golden Delicious)
1 lemon, halved
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon Calvados (I left this out)
1 tablespoon sugar

Custard
1 egg yolk
2 eggs
¼ cup sugar
1 ounce fine-ground almonds (about ¼ cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup crème fraîche or heavy cream

Instructions:

1. Prepare the Pastry (Optional):

  • Combine the flours, salt, sugar, and butter in a food processor. Pulse until crumbly.
  • Add the egg, water, and vanilla. Blend until the dough comes together.
  • Roll out the pastry and line a tart pan. Chill for 30 minutes. Pre-bake at 375°F for 10 minutes.

2. Bake the Apples:

  • Peel, core, and slice the apples. Rub with lemon to prevent browning.
  • Toss the slices with melted butter, sugar, and Calvados (if using).
  • Arrange on a baking sheet and bake at 375°F until golden and tender (about 15 minutes).

3. Make the Custard:

  • Whisk together the egg yolk, eggs, sugar, almonds, vanilla, and cream.

4. Assemble and Bake:

  • If using pastry, line the pre-baked tart shell with the baked apples. For a crustless version, layer the apples in a greased baking dish.
  • Pour the custard mixture over the apples.
  • Bake at 375°F for 25–30 minutes, or until the custard is set and a knife comes out clean.
You can find the recipe for Clafoutis Normand (Apple and Cream Tart) in the book Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link).

Tasting Notes
I love pudding, so this dessert is in my "make-again" pile. I made it both with a pie crust and without (since I ran out of leftover pastry). The crust gave it some texture, but I prefer the baked custard version, even though it was a touch darker than it should have been.

More Clafoutis
• No Special Effects: Tartine's Cherry Clafoutis (Clafoutis aux Cerises)
• Cooking with Amy: Julia Child's Clafouti Recipe
• Gastronomer's Guide: Plum Flognarde
• Nourished Kitchen: Flaugnarde with Roasted Berries

Next Time
Crème chantilly, Crème pâtissière, Crème anglaise, Crème bavaroise
(Whipped cream, pastry cream, Bavarian cream)
::Whisk::
I'm baking my way through a cooking school curriculum using the Le Cordon Bleu at Home (affiliate link) cookbook. The "classes" are based on the Le Cordon Bleu curriculum found online and used as a guideline. Not all the items in the curriculum are in the cookbook, but most are. Where the items are not in the book, I try to find a suitable substitution.

More to Explore:





Print Friendly and PDF
4 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, October 18, 2010

Apple Choosing and Apple Tart


we couldn't pick apples this year
mother nature had other plans for us

the frost bit the blossoms in the Spring
the apples fell early
the tree was bare

we had to choose
from a bin
or
from the ground

we went apple choosing
and still had fun




Apple pie has a rich history dating back to the late 14th century, with early recipes recorded in cookbooks of King Richard II’s time. One of the first written recipes for apple pie used a "coffin" pastry as a simple container, and sweeteners like sugar were often absent due to their rarity and high cost. Today, we enjoy apple pie in various forms, with tender, flaky crusts, and sweet apple fillings.

One variation of apple pie is the Apple Tart, made with a single bottom crust and topped with fresh apples. This recipe combines the classic flavors of apple pie with a unique twist for a delightful dessert. Whether you're celebrating fall or just love a classic apple treat, this Apple Tart is sure to become a family favorite.

According to Linda Stradley, on the website What's Cooking America, one of the first records of apple pie was in a cookbook originally compiled around 1390 A.D. by the master cooks of King Richard II. The following, according to historians, is one of the first recipes of what we know today as apple pie.

XXIII. For To Make Tartys in Applis
Tak gode Applys and gode Spryeis and Figys and reyfons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed co-lourd wyth Safron wel and do yt in a cofyn and do yt forth to bake well.


These early pies differed from pies today in that no sugar was used – for obvious reasons. Sugar was both scarce and expensive. Also, the pastry, referred to as a “coffin” in the ancient recipe, was considered simply a container, something not to be eaten.

It was said that the mark of a good “coffin” was if it could be run over by a wagon wheel without breaking!

Apple trees were brought to America from Europe. The only apple trees native to North America are varieties of crab apple trees. However, the acceptance of apples in American culture is demonstrated by the well-known slogan:
“As American as motherhood and apple pie.”
Today, the mark of a good apple pie is its tender, flaky crust and the shortest possible period of time between the picking of the apple and the baking of the pie. It has become a family tradition at our house to pick our own apples in the fall. At Thanksgiving this year, we made pies with apples that had been at the orchard as recently as the day before we made the pies.

Recipe: Apple Tart

An apple pie is often made with a double crust. This time we used only a bottom crust, making it an Apple Tart.

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

Dough:
200 g flour (about 1½ cups)
100 g butter, unsalted, and broken into pieces (about 7 tablespoons)
70 g confectioners' sugar (about 1/3 cup)
5 g salt (about 1 teaspoon)
4 ml milk (about 1 teaspoon)
3 egg yolks
5 ml pure vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)

700 g apples (about 3 cups)

Compote:
500 g apples (about 2 cups)
50 g sugar, optional (3½ tablespoons)
50 g butter (3½ tablespoons)
cinnamon, to taste

Instructions:

For the dough:

  1. Sift the flour onto your countertop and make a well in the center. Add butter, confectioners' sugar, salt, milk, egg yolks, and vanilla extract to the well.
  2. Mix ingredients using your finger in a circular motion until a paste forms. Then, use a pastry scraper to break up the dough into a crumbly mixture.
  3. Perform the "fraisage" technique by rubbing a small portion of dough through your palms to distribute the butter and flour without overworking the dough. Repeat this with the remaining dough.
  4. Knead the dough into a ball and ensure a spring-back effect when pressed. If the dough is too dry, add a little water; if too wet, add flour.
  5. Shape the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

For the filling:

  1. Core, quarter, and slice the apples. In a pan, melt the butter and add the apples.
  2. Add sugar (optional) and cook until the apples soften. Stir in vanilla extract and cook until the apples are tender, adding water if needed.
  3. Pass the mixture through a food mill or use a food processor to puree into a compote.

Assembly and Baking:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
  2. Roll out the dough on a floured surface and line a tart pan or ring. Chill the dough while preparing the filling.
  3. Spread the compote onto the bottom of the pastry. Arrange the remaining apple slices in a circular pattern on top.
  4. Sprinkle with sugar and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the tart is golden and the apples are soft.




Tasting Notes
My 11-year-old loves to help make pie and she does it now with minimal supervision. We all love it when she gets into her pie-making mood. The only thing better than the taste of fresh apple pie is the anticipatory smell of it baking in the oven. This year, the pie came out just in time for the turkey to go in, and the lingering aroma of apple pie spices with a slow-roasting turkey – well, memories are made of this!

More to Explore:





Print Friendly and PDF
6 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Apple Tart and Fraisage


Pies are a popular dessert at our house. Although I'm not a huge fan, my 11-year-old loves them. So she's become the resident expert. I've taught her the a-ha moments I had at Le Cordon Bleu regarding pastry: including fraisage. (See video below.) Although I'd read about fraisage, I didn't know exactly what it was until someone showed me. Some things need to be shown, and this was one of them. By not overworking the dough, it remains tender.


Read more »


Print Friendly and PDF
21 comments
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)