Tarte Aux Pommes

Comme celle de maman :)

Since I have been making so many old (and REALLY good!) things over the past few days, yesterday I had to make my honest-to-god favorite dessert; the one my mom has been making for me throughout my entire life.

I actually used to "help" her make it by mixing together the tart dough, but now it's just a good joke that we share since at age 5 I doubt I was able to really make any magic happen in the kitchen- but I loved helping!

Tarte Aux Pommes

Ingredients:

Filling-

• 4 large tart granny smith apples (my FAVORITE apple of all time)
• 110 grams Mott's Natural Apple Sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar

Pastry Crust-

• 500 grams flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 all-purpose this time)
• 125 grams unsalted butter (cut into small cubes)
• 30 grams granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk (keep more on hand nearby to help the dough come together if it's too dry)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon salt

And here is the recipe:
(Note, the ingredients I have listed here are the correct amounts- the attachment's flour amount is incorrect)

I really hold this recipe very near and dear to my heart so I hope you'll give it a try and thoroughly enjoy it. :-)

Happy Baking!

Jessica

Fresh Apricot Tart

Very quick post today, here's a fabulous recipe and when I didn't follow it very well (aka: used apricots instead of apples and didn't add any jam) was okay, but not great. Here's the original recipe, do with it what you will, but it is an absolutely DELICIOUS crust, I just goofed a little with the topping. :)
Alice Waters’ Apple Tart

Dough:

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, just softened, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 1/2 tablespoons chilled water

Filling:

• 2 pounds apples (Golden Delicious or another tart, firm variety), peeled, cored (save peels and cores), and sliced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 5 tablespoons sugar

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. MIX flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl; add 2 tablespoons of the butter. Blend in a mixer until dough resembles coarse cornmeal. Add remaining butter; mix until biggest pieces look like large peas.
2. DRIBBLE in water, stir, then dribble in more, until dough just holds together. Toss with hands, letting it fall through fingers, until it’s ropy with some dry patches. If dry patches predominate, add another tablespoon water. Keep tossing until you can roll dough into a ball. Flatten into a 4-inch-thick disk; refrigerate. After at least 30 minutes, remove; let soften so it’s malleable but still cold. Smooth cracks at edges. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 14-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Dust excess flour from both sides with a dry pastry brush.
3. PLACE dough in a lightly greased 9-inch round tart pan, or simply on a parchment-lined baking sheet if you wish to go free-form, or galette-style with it. Heat oven to 400#176;F. (If you have a pizza stone, place it in the center of the rack.)
4. OVERLAP apples on dough in a ring 2 inches from edge if going galette-style, or up to the sides if using the tart pan. Continue inward until you reach the center. Fold any dough hanging over pan back onto itself; crimp edges at 1-inch intervals.
5. BRUSH melted butter over apples and onto dough edge. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over dough edge and the other 3 tablespoons over apples. (Deb note: I found it nearly impossible to coat it with this much sugar, so I used a little less–more like 3 tablespoons. It made a lightly sweet tart, which we found perfect.)
6. BAKE in center of oven until apples are soft, with browned edges, and crust has caramelized to a dark golden brown (about 45 minutes), making sure to rotate tart every 15 minutes.
7. MAKE glaze: Put reserved peels and cores in a large saucepan, along with sugar. Pour in just enough water to cover; simmer for 25 minutes. Strain syrup through cheesecloth.
8. REMOVE tart from oven, and slide off parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 15 minutes.
9. BRUSH glaze over tart, slice, and serve.

Happy Baking!

Jessica

Plum-Almond Tart for a special someone :)

So, I cheated a little bit and made a recipe I came to know and love already. But hear me out, we had our good friend Piper over for dinner and I KNOW she loves plums, so what could I do? Hold out on her and keep this recipe all to myself? Come on, you know me better than that! ;-)

So, here, have some pictures.

But, I just discovered a new website that I definitely intend on becoming a regular for: http://foodporndaily.com/pictures/light-crisp-chewy-cardamom-macarons-with-tangy-lemon-buttercream/

Good god, don't they look a-MAZING?!

Yep, I thought so. :)

Happy Baking!

Jessica

Fresh grown plums mean a Plum Tart!

Yesterday, my brother came home with his arms full of fresh fruit! His very sweet girlfriend's parents gave us a HUGE tupperware-full of plums and a big ziploc-bag of lemons, yum!

After dinner, I was enjoying some of the delicious plums and my mom suggested I might consider making a plum tart from them- and after that seed was planted... Well, I knew I would need to try it out.

Thankfully, as I was looking at some of my favorite blogs, I found that Smitten Kitchen had a recipe for a Plum-Almond Tart that looked WAY too mouth-wateringly amazing to be allowed on the internet. So it was decided. :)

The tart took a bit of work to put together, but considering the multiple bakings and separate almond filling and fruit cutting, it was pretty simple! My favorite part was that the dough didn't require a long refrigeration time, just a quick 15 minutes in the freezer and directly into the preheated oven.

Plum-Almond Tart

(Originally from Bon Appetit Magazine)

Ingredients:

Crust

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons ice water
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling

• 1/3 cup whole almonds (about 2 ounces)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons Cassis Liquor
• 12 ounces ripe red-skinned plums, pitted, cut into 3/4-inch thick wedges

Make crust:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine first 3 ingredients in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix 2 tablespoons ice water and vanilla in small bowl. Pour water mixture over dough. Process until moist clumps form.
2. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Roll out on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in and press, forming double-thick sides. Using fork, pierce dough all over. Freeze 15 minutes.
3. Bake crust until pale golden, about 25 minutes. (In my oven) Cool on rack. Maintain oven temperature.

Make filling:

1. Finely grind almonds with sugar in processor. Add egg, butter and 2 teaspoons Cassis Liquor. Process until batter forms. Pour filling into crust. Arrange plums atop filling. Bake until plums are tender and filling is golden and set, about 50 minutes.
2. Cool tart and serve at room temperature.

This tart showcased the homegrown plums perfectly, but don't just take my word for it! Give this beautiful tart a try!

Happy Baking!

Jessica