eG Cook-Off #67: Apples

[FauxPas]

There are some early apples available here now - Sunrise variety at one of the local farms was a starting point for me for a summer salad.

 

It's based on an older recipe at Food52 (from 2009). It has a touch of Waldorf salad, but it moves beyond it.  

 

The salad is a base of mixed baby greens, with fennel, celeriac, sliced apple, toasted pecans and lardons. The vinaigrette is based on caramelized apple + apple cider. 

 

 

I appreciate that it uses fresh apple slices in the salad and also uses apple in the dressing. It was very good, but if I was going to make it again I would juice/strain a cooked apple or two and use that in the vinaigrette with maybe just a bit of apple pulp. The recipe, as it is, makes a dressing that is too thick for my taste. 

 

But it was fun and tasty. The celeriac I bought was awful, so I ended up subbing regular celery. 

 

The original recipe is here. 

[CatPoet]

I found the recipe!  It was by my computer.  I tried just to use butter and sugar to get the  caramell  but that didnt work, it just became one with the sponge, so I used a Swedish toffee recipe instead.

 

This is for a 7 inch pan. I have a great 7 inch pan that is nonstick and doesnt need  to be greased.

 

Batter:

60 gram  melted butter

50 ml sugar

1 egg

125 ml flour

1/4 teaspoon baking pwoder

1 tablespoon milk.

 

Whisk sugar and melted butter smooth and airy, then add the egg.

Add the rest and whisk smooth.

 

 

Apples:

2 good apples.

 

Core and slice .

 

Toffe:

50 ml sugar

50 ml cream

50 ml golden syrup or dark cornsyrup

 

 

Mix everything in a pot and  cook for  4 minutes, should be goose eyed bubbles.

 

 

 

Add the toffee to the pan, add the apples, be warned it is hot. when the apples covers the toffee. Add small dollops of batter to cover.  Bake in the cooler part of the oven at 175 C  for 30 min until done.  Turn directly on to a plate. Leave to cool a bit.

 

Sorry for not being able to give a more detailed recipe, I have a 2 year old with fever.

Edited August 31, 2014 by CatPoet (log)

[ElsieD]

I found the recipe!  It was by my computer.  I tried just to use butter and sugar to get the  caramell  but that didnt work, it just became one with the sponge, so I used a Swedish toffee recipe instead.

 

This is for a 7 inch pan. I have a great 7 inch pan that is nonstick and doesnt need  to be greased.

 

Batter:

60 gram  melted butter

50 ml sugar

1 egg

125 ml flour

1/4 teaspoon baking pwoder

1 tablespoon milk.

 

Whisk sugar and melted butter smooth and airy, then add the egg.

Add the rest and whisk smooth.

 

 

Apples:

2 good apples.

 

Core and slice .

 

Toffe:

50 ml sugar

50 ml cream

50 ml golden syrup or dark cornsyrup

 

 

Mix everything in a pot and  cook for  4 minutes, should be goose eyed bubbles.

 

 

 

Add the toffee to the pan, add the apples, be warned it is hot. when the apples covers the toffee. Add small dollops of batter to cover.  Bake in the cooler part of the oven at 175 C  for 30 min until done.  Turn directly on to a plate. Leave to cool a bit.

 

Sorry for not being able to give a more detailed recipe, I have a 2 year old with fever.

Thank you for posting this. I just want to clarify one thing - the butter is listed by weight while the other ingredients are listed by volume. I am used to recipes being in either all weight or all volume so just want to make sure that this is in fact a mix. It looks delicious and I look forward to making it.

[Darienne]

As for the butter in CatPoet's recipe being listed by weight:  I measure most all ingredients still by volume, but have measured butter by weight for years now.  I made up a little cheat sheet so that I have all volumes translated into weights.  I always hated the mess I made when measuring butter by volume...first getting it into a cup and them making sure I got it all out of the cup.  It just made much more sense to use a weight, especially with Canadian butter which is packaged in one HUGE brick (as compared to US butter which is in 4 sticks and is more easily managed.  Why this difference?  Well, I don't know, eh?)

 

So that might explain the use of two sets of measuring techniques...  Works for me.

[CatPoet]

Well sadly this is how we do it in Sweden.  Butter, yeast and fruit comes in  grams and   the rest in decilitres  which is  easily converted  to  the more common millilitre.

And yes Swedish butter comes in  150 gram, 250 gram, 500 gram and 1 kilo packs  so  it is easier to do it by grams then sticks or cups.

[Anna N]

As for the butter in CatPoet's recipe being listed by weight:  I measure most all ingredients still by volume, but have measured butter by weight for years now.  I made up a little cheat sheet so that I have all volumes translated into weights.  I always hated the mess I made when measuring butter by volume...first getting it into a cup and them making sure I got it all out of the cup.  It just made much more sense to use a weight, especially with Canadian butter which is packaged in one HUGE brick (as compared to US butter which is in 4 sticks and is more easily managed.  Why this difference?  Well, I don't know, eh?)

 

So that might explain the use of two sets of measuring techniques...  Works for me.

For the record I can buy butter in sticks in almost every grocery chain. So it's not Canada! Maybe your little piece of it!

[David Ross]

There are some early apples available here now - Sunrise variety at one of the local farms was a starting point for me for a summer salad.

 

It's based on an older recipe at Food52 (from 2009). It has a touch of Waldorf salad, but it moves beyond it.  

 

The salad is a base of mixed baby greens, with fennel, celeriac, sliced apple, toasted pecans and lardons. The vinaigrette is based on caramelized apple + apple cider. 

 

IMGP3058.JPG

 

I appreciate that it uses fresh apple slices in the salad and also uses apple in the dressing. It was very good, but if I was going to make it again I would juice/strain a cooked apple or two and use that in the vinaigrette with maybe just a bit of apple pulp. The recipe, as it is, makes a dressing that is too thick for my taste. 

 

But it was fun and tasty. The celeriac I bought was awful, so I ended up subbing regular celery. 

 

The original recipe is here. 

That is a beautiful salad and I especially like the idea of pairing celeriac with apple. 

[ElsieD]

Well sadly this is how we do it in Sweden.  Butter, yeast and fruit comes in  grams and   the rest in decilitres  which is  easily converted  to  the more common millilitre.

And yes Swedish butter comes in  150 gram, 250 gram, 500 gram and 1 kilo packs  so  it is easier to do it by grams then sticks or cups.

Thanks for clarifying this. I have no problem with either measure - I just wanted to make sure. I am totally making this as soon as I can get my hands on the right size pan.

[CatPoet]

 You make it in a larger pan, just double the recipe, I always make my cake  "half"  the normal size due to not being able to eat that much  and also why make 8-12 servings when you are just 2 and a small kid?

[David Ross]

 

My Tarte Tatin takes two days--cooking the apples with sugar and butter on day one, then refrigerating overnight and adding the pastry and final baking on day two.

 

Apples-

4 Golden Delicious Apples, peeled, cut in half and cored

1 stick salted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

 

Melt the butter in a cast iron pan and then add the sugar.  Stir to melt the sugar, then add the apples.  I made a small Tarte Tatin with 3 Golden Delicious Apples. I live alone, so a larger Tarte Tatin is more than I can eat in a couple of days and beyond that, the pastry gets terribly limp and soggy.  It's one of those pastries that's best when eaten still warm. 

 

I've tried non-sick pans and while good, they don't conduct the heat in a manner that allows the apples to turn deep golden in color, and I suppose cast iron gives one a greater sense of tradition. Rather than stack apple slices or quarters, this time I cut the apples in half, basically figuring on each slice having half an apple, then adding thick slices of apple in the center. I use different configurations of the apples, but I like this one the best.

 

 

Bake the apples in a 375 oven for 1 1/2 hours.  This is only an approximation of total baking time. You want the apples to turn golden and caramelize into the sugar and butter, but you don't want to go too far or the caramel will burn.

 

 

Let the apples cool to room temperature, then cover the skillet and refrigerate overnight. 

[David Ross]

On day two, take the skillet out of the refrigerator and prep the pastry dough.  I used my standard pie crust dough, but substituted lard for Crisco.  It wasn't intentional as in "I'd like the flavor lard gives pastry" type of thought, but a case of not having Crisco on hand.  In the end, I think I'll use lard in the future because it did add a bit of flavor to the pastry and it seemed lighter and flakier than Crisco pastry.

 

Pastry-(enough pastry for 2 small Tarte Tatin's)
2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup cake flour
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces
½ cup Crisco shortening, chilled, cut into pieces (substitute lard)
½ cup ice water

Combine the flour, cake flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl and stir to mix. Using a pastry cutter, cut butter and Crisco by hand into small pea size bits. Mix in enough ice water with a fork until the pastry comes together. Form pastry into a ball and cover completely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate pastry for at least one hour before using.
 

Fairly large pieces of butter and lard cut with the flour-

 

Heat oven to 350°. Roll out the pastry fairly thick, (I like a thicker pastry for the Tarte Tatin so it can hold the weight of the apples and caramel). Gently place the pastry over the apples in the skillet. Trim edge of pastry so that about ½" overhangs skillet. Press in edges of pastry to inside of skillet.

Bake skillet in oven just until pastry is golden, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes.

To unmold the Tarte Tatin, place a plate over the top of skillet and carefully turn over the skillet. The Tarte Tatin should easily invert onto the plate.  

 

 

 

I did make one small mistake--I used a ratio of butter and sugar for 4 apples, but then I only had 3 apples in the skillet. The result, extra caramel which I guess in the end was actually a good thing. It's obviously a "rustic" presentation, but that doesn't matter once you taste this Tarte Tatin.  The richest, buttery, flaky, sweet, soft, juicy, caramel apple you can imagine. 

[lesliec]

That looks great, Mr Ross.  Rustic is entirely appropriate for Tarte Tatin.

[Shelby]

OH MY David, that looks heavenly.  I want want want.  I'm drooling.  And a BIG thank you for posting a picture of how the dough should look when done mixing it.  I am pastry dough challenged and I will be referring to this picture often.

[David Ross]

I'm thinking about an apple dish paired with sautéed foie gras, but I have a few questions-

-If I seared the foie gras then flamed it with Calvados, (apple brandy), would the Calvados make the foie gras taste bitter?

-Anyone ever found or used a good apple vinegar? I'm looking for something more concentrated than apple cider vinegar.

-I think an apple chutney with curry spices would be a good accompaniment to the foie gras--sweet yet sour and I like the

fragrance of curry.  Would it work with the foie gras?

[FrogPrincesse]

On the first question - I can't think of a reason why flambeed calvados would make the foie gras taste bitter. I've used armagnac with foie gras, but of course calvados would be perfect for your theme. That sounds like a wonderful idea.

[TedHarris]

with Canadian butter which is packaged in one HUGE brick (as compared to US butter which is in 4 sticks and is more easily managed.  Why this difference?  Well, I don't know, eh?)

Lactancia unsalted butter is available in a box of 4 sticks. This is usually what I buy. Easier to work with for sure. Available at Longo's and Loblaws.

[Darienne]

Lactancia unsalted butter is available in a box of 4 sticks. This is usually what I buy. Easier to work with for sure. Available at Longo's and Loblaws.

We have neither store in Peterborough.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Darienne (log)

[ElsieD]

We have neither store in Peterborough.

Metro carries it as well if you have one of those.

[David Ross]

Another note, sometimes I add a tablespoon of corn syrup to the butter and sugar before adding the apples and baking.  It gives a firmer, stickier finished caramel, but be careful, too much corn syrup and the caramel will burn.

 

[janeer]

Terrific, David, and of course I am a HUGE fan of lard

[David Ross]

My next sweet apple dish is a traditional Apple Brown Betty.  The Brown Betty first started to show up in cookbooks in the 1860's, but I suspect it was a dish baked in homes for decades prior.  It is one of the simplest of apple dishes--a layered dessert of apples, sugar, spices, breadcrumbs and butter. 

 

For this Betty, I chose the Honeycrisp apple, a newer variety cultivated by the University of Minnesota.  I was going out of my normal boundaries of using the Fuji by experimenting with the Honeycrisp.  The Fuji is sweet but not overly so and it cooks down to a thick applesauce texture which is perfect for the Betty.

 

This is one of the few recipes where I use commercial, sliced white bread, but it is fabulous.  Simply cut off the crust and pulse in the food processor for fluffy, flavorful, fresh breadcrumbs-

 

The apples and brown sugar are tossed with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.  I used 5 apples, 1 cup brown sugar and a dash of each of the spices-

 

Then a layer of fresh breadcrumbs and pats of butter-

 

And another layer of apples, breadcrumbs and butter-

 

Baked in a 375 oven for about 45 minutes-

 

Apple Brown Betty with Vanilla Ice Cream-

 

The verdict: Good but not great.  I should have followed the advice of the clerk at the grocery store--the Honeycrisp was cultivated to be a juicy, sweet yet tart, eating apple.  The flavor was somewhat bitter in the baked Betty and the apple slices didn't soften after 45 minutes in the oven.  The Honeycrisp is a delicious apple, but at a premium price, ($3.49/lb.) over other apple varieties, I think my expectations were too high.

 

Next time I'll go back to the Fuji and use my standard technique for the apples in a Betty-cook the apples down in a compote with currants rather than slicing the apples.  I think the soft texture of a thick applesauce works better in the Betty.

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

I love the look of those nice brown fluffy crumbs!

[lesliec]

Dave, your Betty looks wonderful. That's a good tip about apple selection - we can actually get Fujis here, so I'll be able to compare them with other local varieties as a guide to how they'll perform.

I don't know that a Brown Betty is known to New Zealand cooks. The nearest equivalent is probably the Apple Crumble (or crapple umble, if you're my wife), but it doesn't have multiple crumb layers and the 'crumbs' are actually oats, butter, flour and sugar. If the apple layer beneath is too wet, it becomes the famous Apple Soggy.

[Smithy]

Minnesota's spring and summer were so wet and cool that the apple crop is a couple of weeks late, according to the farm reports. However, the local wild apples are starting to come into their own. I've been raiding one of the trees and now have this haul:

They're sweet and crisp enough that I think they'll stand up well to baking. The obvious problem with them is processing; they're about the size of cherry tomatoes. Last year I chopped and seeded a bunch and made an excellent relish; when I got tired of seeding I threw the rest in a pot with a little water and, er, I forget what else. I used a food mill to remove the seeds afterward, and the resulting sauce was a very pretty red from the peel. This year I may try roasting some to make that apple sauce. I'm considering single-serving pies or pasties. What else might I do with these? Ideas, anyone?

[Shelby]

Oh my gosh, Smithy!  Those are the cutest apples ever!  I wonder if you could pickle them?  I did a quick google and this website popped up http://nipitinthebud.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/making-sweet-pickled-crab-apples/  .  I'm still in a pickle mode, I guess